In the Twilight Kingdom
by Jen Rock
Summary: AU. Gotham Commissioner Jack Napier struggles to protect his city from the evil Bat-Demon.
1. Default Chapter

In the Twilight Kingdom.

Part 1-Arrivals.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Notes: This is an Elseworlds/AU story set in a mirror DC universe. There is going to be a lot of exposition in the story as I try to explain backgrounds. Hopefully, it won't be too annoying. The title comes from a line in T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men." As in one of my previous stories, the poetry is meant to compliment the storyline as in song-fics.

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"We touch all laws and tally all antecedents

We are the skald, the oracle, the monk and the knight

We easily include them and more

We stand amid time beginningless and endless

We stand amid good and evil

All swings around us, there is as much darkness as light."

"With Antecedents."-Walt Whitman

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Gotham City Police Commissioner Jack Napier sat at his desk staring wearily at the stack of paperwork that still needed to be completed. Sometimes it seemed like he spent half his day filling out papers. With a sigh, he picked up the top piece and tried to concentrate on it but it had been a long day and his eyes kept wandering towards the door.

Finally, conceding defeat, he dropped the file back on his desk and massaged his tired eyes. He'd just gotten to his feet to leave when he heard the commotion outside in the common room. Before he could take more than two steps towards the door, it was thrown open so hard that his numerous accommodations and awards rattled on the walls. His second-in-command, Harvey Dent stuck his split face through and motioned towards him.

"You have to come see this Jack." The scarred side of his face seemed to be grimacing but the untouched side was obviously thrilled. Jack followed Harvey into a room in chaos. Various staff members were frozen in place while others had their weapons drawn and pointed at the far side of the room. Jack noted that Jonathan Crane, their resident psychologist was plastered to the wall, his face white and his teeth chattering in audible fear.

In the doorway, stood one of the few metahumans that Jack Napier trusted, with a triumphant grin on her face. Pamela Isley ignored the guns and gestured to the still form hanging tethered among the creeping vines that followed her every step.

"I've got a little present for you Jack, just like I promised." The bat-demon was unconscious but the sight of it still sent a chill down his back. For a fleeting second, he'd thought it was THE Bat-Demon but this one was smaller and appeared to be female. He should be able to tell the difference, being one of the few human beings alive to see the original demon up close and live to tell about it.

"Get a containment unit in here quick." Commissioner Napier ordered, taking control of the situation. Jervis Tetch, the head of the science department was already on it as he came through the door with several technicians carrying a gurney. The vines deposited the demon on the gurney and the men gingerly strapped her down before heading back to their labs.

"I want everyone on high alert. HE won't like this and we have to be ready for anything." There was no need to tell his men who "HE" was. They already knew as they calmed down and went to secure the building. Crane was still trying to shrink into the wall, too traumatized by the sight of the creature, even after it had been taken away, to function. "And someone get Crane a paper bag to breathe into before he passes out."

Pam, who had once called herself Poison Ivy, when she was on the wrong side of the law, led Jack Napier back into his office and closed the door. He sat down and ran a hand through his green hair before facing her. He almost wished that paperwork was all he had to deal with now.

"How did you do it, Ivy?" She looked amused as he was the only one who still called her that.

"I've studied the patterns of their attacks. I knew there are certain areas they tend to strike in more than others. So I set a trap, a poor sobbing little girl who was lost and scared and trying to hide. That one fell for it and I was able to capture her with only a minimal amount of fuss. I guess this proves they can't tell my 'plant-people' from the real thing."

"HE wouldn't have fallen for it but I'm glad your plan worked. There could have been more of them in the area or they could have seen through your decoy and attacked you."

"But they didn't and now you have your specimen. Hopefully Tetch and his lab geeks can figure out who she is and how that was done to her."

"Thank you Ivy. This is the first real break we've had and we couldn't have done it without you."

"You know I didn't do it for any of you. I did it for Harley." A flash of the old Poison Ivy showed through in her brief sneer but he knew she didn't mean it. She wasn't the same person she'd been when destroying mankind to allow plants free reign had been

her goal. Time had awakened her to the far greater threat posed by the Supervillians.

"I'd better go down and help Tetch keep that thing under control. I think it'll take more than straps to keep her confined once she wakes up." The vines wrapped around her like a shroud as her mood turned melancholy. Doubtless she was thinking of the cheerful, blond girl who had brought her back to the side of good and who now sat quiet and contained in a secluded room below them.

Jack sat deep in thought, after she'd gone. No one knew where the Bat-Demon had come from. There were some who theorized that it had once been a man who'd been mutated through experimentation. Others insisted it was a creature straight from hell sent to plague the citizens of Gotham. Whatever the truth, it was no longer alone. Many people had vanished off the streets in the past five years to satisfy its hunger but some of them had become like it. There was believed to be at least ten bat-demons beside the original. No one ventured outside for long once when the sun went down. The creatures didn't confine their hunts only to one area and no one was safe.

Gotham was a city under siege but he supposed it could be worse. The city of Metropolis and its surrounding areas had previously been under the iron rule of a strange being known as Superman for years. The military had been useless against him and there had been fears he might take over the whole planet. It wasn't until an investigative journalist named Lex Luthor had discovered that Superman was vulnerable to specific types of radioactive meteorite pieces that the tyrant had been destroyed.

Other cities had had problems with a superfast villian who couldn't be stopped, a green-energy wielding madman who had destroyedCoast City in California, and a woman claiming to be an Amazonion princess who had taken over the island of Crete and enslaved all men. Metahumans had been tolerated, even admired, before the rise of the Supervillians but public opinion had quickly turned against them afterwards. Jack would likely be shot to death in many places just on the appearance of his chalk-white skin and green hair. He had the Bat-Demon to thank for that as well.

Still, few cities had it as bad as Gotham which was why the federal government had placed the city under martial law at Jack's command. Commissioner Napier was essentially the governing dictator of a city-state straight out of ancient Greece. No one wanted the Bat-Demons to spread to other cities but so far they'd shown no inclination to leave.

Jack got up and stood at the window with his hands clasped behind his back. The glass was double-thick and reinforced with bars to prevent an attack. The moon was high and full and its cold light streamed over the tall spires of his city. For a moment, as he watched, something flitted over one of the buildings looking like nothing more than a shadow sliding across the roof. A cold shiver went down his spine uncontrollably but now there was something else beside fear. With the capture of the lesser Bat-Demon, they could finally begin to delve into some of the demon's secrets. Finally there was hope.


	2. Part 2Preparations

Part 2-Preparations.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned everything but I don't.

"In what distant deeps or skies

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand dare seize the fire?"

"The Tiger,"-William Blake

"She seemed a splendid angel, newly dressed

Save wings for heaven."

"The Eve of St. Agnes,"-John Keats

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In the morning, after a quick four hours of sleep and a lot of coffee, Commissioner Napier headed down to the main lab to see what progress Tetch was making. The security around the building had been tripled and he'd ordered all projects to speed up their research in anticipation of the Bat-Demon's next move.

When he reached the lab, everything looked the same as usual. White-coated scientists hunched over computers or clustered around their experiments but there was an obvious undercurrent of tension. Dr. Jervis Tetch came to meet him as he entered. The little, British scientist was something of an eccentric and wore a top hat in addition to his lab coat but the man was also a certified genius. His skill and understanding of electronic devices were unsurpassed. He'd invented a type of chip that could stimulate brain activity and had used it to bring any number of people out of comas and to aid those with brain damage. Jack was lucky to have gotten his services and really it had only been Tetch's fascination with the Bat-Demon that had brought him on the team.

"Good day Commissioner. I suppose you're here to see our new lab bat." Tetch smiled genially at his own joke which was more than Jack did. Humorless was a word often used to describe Gotham's Commissioner despite his artificial and permanent grin. "This way, sir."

Jack followed Tetch to a secured isolation chamber off of the main lab. There were two armed guards at the door who gave him a curt nod as he passed, and eight more inside with their guns unholstered and ready. The lesser demon was still unconscious and strapped down to an exam bed with metal chains as well as the cloth straps of the bed.

Some might have thought that the creature was harmless and contained but everyone present knew better. She was probably about the same height as Pam but more muscular. Her body was covered with brown fur which didn't hide the still-feminine curves. Her wings had been pinned back separately to allow the scientists to examine them and the light shone through the paper-thin skin making it almost translucent in appearance.

"We've taken blood and tissue samples as well as a full-body scan and we should have the results in a few days. Until then, I'll keep her sedated."

"I'm going to need to talk to her, see if she'll tell me anything."

"Now? With all due respect sir, that might not be a good idea. We know these creatures are exceptionally strong and if she's awake there's a chance she might be able to break the restraints. And I doubt she'll tell you anything anyway. The demons seem to have total loyalty to their master."

"I understand your concern Jervis but time is not on our side right now. I need any information I can get about the Demon. It can wait until you get some preliminary results but the sooner the better. Even if she won't talk, that will still tell us something. Hell, even if she can't talk but only emits bat squeaks that will tell us something about how complete the transformation is."

"I understand your eagerness Commissioner but when you wake the creature up, can you do so when both Miss Isley and Waylon Jones are present? I'd feel more confident with their assistance." Jervis still didn't like Jack's idea but he was trying to accommodate his leader.

"I can accept that. I can get Waylon in here whenever we're ready but where is Ivy? She said she was staying here with the demon."

"She was here until a short while ago but she said she needed to go visit a friend. She should be back shortly." Jervis was careful not to mention who the friend was although both men knew what was meant.

"Call me when she gets back. I need to go talk to Nigma about the security systems."

"There's one more thing, sir. We should get Dr. Crane in here during the interrogation. If she talks, he'll need to assess her state of mind."

"I'll speak with him but I don't think he'll be too keen on the idea. I'll have to order him to be here." Jack grimaced at having to force Crane into doing his job. He knew how terrified the psychologist was of the creature but Jonathan would just have to face his fear and get his act together like they were all doing.

Leaving the lab, he went up two floors to where Edward Nigma, the police force's resident computer expert, was typing away at the main computer. Every security system in the building had been designed and programmed by Nigma. His intelligence could have gotten him a job anywhere but he'd grown up in Gotham and was determined to do whatever was necessary to help his hometown.

"What's up, boss?" Nigma never looked up from the computer but Jack knew he was capable of processing his typing and their conversation at the same time so he didn't take offense.

"I want an update on everything. Security systems, the new armor projects, and whatever else you might have cooking up."

"You didn't need to come down here to ask me that. I could have sent you an e-mail. But since you're here...the security system is still air-tight. A mouse couldn't get in this building without the sensors detecting it. The armor is coming along just fine and I've made sure the project was sped up. I've got a few side projects that might help in the event you decide to take this fight to the demons. I've also deployed twice as many robot scouts as usual. That's everything."

"All right. I'm holding a meeting tonight for senior staff at 6:00. You're going to have to give me more details about these 'side projects' of yours."

"Is there something else on your mind, Commissioner? You usually don't come all this way when you could just phone." Nigma actually stopped his typing and turned to face Jack with a look of concern. The two of them were old friends and the look of exhaustion on Napier's face was obvious.

"I just feel like everything's going to be coming to a head real soon and we need to be prepared. And I know your security system is virtually impenetrable but I don't want to take the chance of using the phones. In fact, inform the staff to curtail all their e-mail and phone messages. It's best not to take chances."

If Nigma was offended by the idea of his system being vulnerable, he didn't bother to show it. Instead, he just nodded wordlessly and went back to his work. Jack knew his orders would be sent out through the network within five minutes and went to face a much harder situation.

When Napier entered Dr. Jonathan Crane's tidy office, the psychologist was searching through his file cabinet. He took his time about turning to face the Commissioner, obviously knowing what he was there for. His thin hands shook as he closed the cabinet but his face was composed as he acknowledged Jack's presence.

"How are you feeling Dr. Crane?" Jack steeled himself to be as cordial as possible in what he knew was going to be a difficult conversation.

"How do you think I'm feeling with that thing in the building, Commissioner?" Crane's voice was flat, emotionless but his eyes had regained some of the haunted look they'd held after his rescue.

"The same way I am. But she is secured and this is a valuable opportunity for us." Jonathan winced at the subtle reminder that Jack also carried the scars of an encounter with the Bat-Demon even if his were much more physical than emotional. "I'm planning to have Tetch wake her up in a day or two so we can attempt an interrogation. I want you to be there in a psychiatric capacity."

"You want to wake that monster up! You'd be better off putting a bullet through it's head now before it gets loose and kills one of us. And I can't assess the mindset of animals so I doubt I'd be any use to you." Crane couldn't hide his panic at the thought of being near the demon when it was awakened and his voice had gone rather shrill as he gripped the back of the chair to hide the trembling that had overtaken his body.

"I know it's going to be hard on you but you have to be there. I could order you but I don't want to have to do that. You'll be safe, I promise. You can stand in the observation room if you can't be in the room with her but sooner or later you'll have to be involved in this. It would be better for all of us if you can make it sooner."

The two men locked eyes and there was silence for a moment. Jack was really afraid that he was going to have to force the psychologist to be there and then have him brought by guards to the chamber. It wasn't something he wanted to do and he hoped it wouldn't come to that. Then Crane broke eye contact, shook himself off and stood a little taller.

"I'll...try to be there sir but I can't guarantee I won't bolt the minute it stirs." He gave a shaky laugh.

"That's all I ask. I'll tell you when we're ready." Relieved to have Crane's concession that quickly, Jack headed down to the last and most difficult stop on his round. The basement of the building had been a nuclear bomb shelter back during the Cold War and was still one of the most secure places in the building. It had been converted into a secondary medical facility of a more specific purpose than the main one which was part of Tetch's domain.

The door was shut but unlatched when Jack entered. There were a nurse and a physical therapist present in the room but he paid them no mind and instead approached the two women in the back of the room. Pam was crouched by the wheelchair and her vines were partially encircled around it as she whispered to it's occupant. She glanced up at Jack with a look of resolve.

"I was just leaving Jack. How's the prisoner?"

"The same as when you left her. I'm going to attempt an interrogation and I want you there in case things get out of control."

"I'll be there. That monster isn't going anywhere until we get some answers." With that, Pam leaned down and planted a kiss on the top of Harleen Quinzel's head. She marched out the door and closed it behind her. Jack crouched down by the wheelchair where Pam had been.

"Hello, Harley-girl. I know Pam just told you everything but I wanted to see you." His wife's blue eyes were turned towards him and he forced himself to meet them. "We're going to make him pay for what he's done. Then we'll both go away somewhere nice for awhile, just the two of us. Maybe Bermuda or Hawaii. Okay?"

There was the slightest tremor of a smile across Harley's face and Jack squeezed her hand in encouragement. Despite the rape and beating that had left her paralyzed and brain-damaged, his wife was still aware enough to understand him. That was the worst part of her condition, that she'd been left with enough cognitive function to understand what had been done to her.

"That's my girl. I'll be back to visit you soon." He kissed her on the cheek and headed back towards the upper levels. Hopefully the future interrogation would yield some information about the Bat-Demon. But even if the attempt failed, he was still going to see to it that the Demon went down. Even if it meant he went down with it...


	3. Part 3, Initial Plans

Part 3-Initial Plans.

"There will be time, there will be time

To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet

There will be time to murder and create...

Time for you and time for me

And time yet for a hundred indecisions

And for a hundred visions and revisions."

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

T.S. Eliot

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Commissioner Napier had spent much of the day going from one part of the building to another, in preparation for the meeting. It would have been easier to send one of his assistants to make the rounds but he'd always been a hands-on sort of cop and that hadn't changed now. Besides, it gave him more excuses to put off the tedious paperwork he was already behind on. Mainly, he spent the day in a blur of quick coffee breaks and speaking the same soothing words over and over. Everyone was confused and nervous about the capture. They knew there would be retaliation of some sort.

It was almost a relief when the meeting drew near because at least it would give him a chance to sit down. He'd spared ten minutes for lunch but now, at quarter to six, he found himself starving. There was no time for a proper meal so he hurried to the small commissary near his office. As he emerged back into the briefing room with a handful of candy, he nearly ran into Harvey Dent. The district attorney looked upset although his mouth twisted into a brief grin at the sight of Jack's "supper".

"Mayor Cobblepot called. He's on his way here to sit in on the meeting. His 'Honor' is upset that you didn't invite him."

"He'll just be in the way but let him in anyway if it'll make him happy. And find out how he knew about the meeting." Oswald Cobblepot's position was largely that of a figurehead. He handled the every day needs of the city but he had to defer to Commissioner Napier on any major decision and it rankled him. Barging in on the meeting was his little way of asserting himself so Jack just decided to humor him. Harvey still hovered uncertainly in a manner Jack had seen all day in those who had questions for him. "What else is troubling you, Harv?"

"I...I was just wondering...do you think the prisoner could be Selina Kyle?" Jack stared at Dent, taken aback by the unexpected question. Selina Kyle was one of Jack's best undercover officers. She'd disappeared on a mission along with her partner, Victor Zsasz. Victor's naked body had been found hanging upside down in an abandoned warehouse at the docks. He'd been covered in hundreds of shallow claw marks and left to bleed slowly to death. Selina had never been found but Harvey had always had a thing for her.

"I can't say for sure Harv, but I doubt it. This demon is smaller than Officer Kyle and her basic features don't look like a match. We'll have to wait for the DNA results but I'm almost completely sure that they won't be a match." Harvey looked relieved and upset at the same time. "Now let's get to the meeting. We wouldn't want to keep the mayor waiting."

All of his senior staff were waiting in the conference room. There was the usual conversations going on but everyone looked serious and on edge. There were no teasing banter between anyone today. Harvey took his seat and Jack sat at the head of the table. He wolfed down the candy as he surveyed the room. Edward Nigma was there, tapping a pencil impatiently and keeping an eye on his cell phone which was linked into the security systems. Also, Tetch and Crane sitting next to each other with Pam on Crane's far side. Then there was Garfield Lynns, their resident pyrotechnic expert and head of the bomb squad; Drury Walker(A/N) the head of the small group of helicopter pilots and Miguel "Bane" Dorrance, the head of the SWAT team. Finally there was Cornelius Stirk, the head of undercover operations and a master of disguise.

They were all good people, his people, and he felt a swell of pride seeing them all assembled here. Police officers were almost unnecessary in the city. There was very little crime on the streets, especially at night as everyone hid from the Bat-Demons. Apart from the occasional daylight robbery or assault, most crimes happened in private. There were still beat cops who handled the "regular" crimes but those assembled before him were an army not a police force. And it felt to all of them as though the end of the war might finally be in sight.

His unusual good mood was soured a bit by the arrival of the mayor. Oswald Cobblepot waddled in with his usual self-righteous expression. He was a short, fat man with a long, hooked nose and slicked-back dark hair. While no one would dare call him Penguin to his face, the derogatory nickname's aptness was heightened by the black-and-white suit he insisted on wearing at every occasion.

"I'm very disappointed that you didn't see fit to call me about the developing situation here, Commissioner Napier. I'm still the duly-elected mayor of this city and I deserve to know what's going on." Cobblepot tried to affect an air of wounded dignity but it just made him look more penguin-like as he puffed out his chest and stared at Jack.

"I was planning to tell you about all of this but events have been happening very quickly. The Bat-Demon has only been in our custody for half-a-day and I'm sure your Honor would like to have all the information instead of getting it piecemeal." Oswald didn't look convinced at that but he really had no power to force Jack to tell him anything and he knew it. So after a disapproving "harrumph," he took his seat at the opposite end of the table from Jack who stood up to address them all.

"I'm not going to reiterate the circumstances that have lead us to this meeting. You all know what happened last night thanks to Miss Isley." Pam nodded curtly and several of the others flashed grateful smiles at her. "What we need to address now are three issues. First, how will this help us? Second, how will this hurt us? And lastly, where do we go from here?

The answer to that last question will depend on the information that Dr. Tetch obtains from his tests. I'll let him update us in a minute but first I'm going to talk about the first two questions. Obviously, this will help us get a window into the Demons world. We might be able to figure out how the kidnap victims are changed and how to prevent it in the future. We may even be able to use the data to figure out the location of the Demons.

But there's the second question to consider. We know that HE won't allow this to go unpunished. It's doubtful he'll attack us directly. The building is too secure for that." Eddie grinned at that. No one, man or demon could unriddle his security measures. "However, anyone outside of the building is still vulnerable. I think we should institute a city-wide shutdown."

"What! For how long? You can't just bring this city to a standstill. Those creatures only attack at night and we already have the curfew. You're going too far, Napier." Cobblepot was furious which Jack had expected. But it was Jack's decision, not his.

"With all due respect mayor, the demons have only attacked at night before but that may change now. There's nothing to indicate that they won't hunt during the day. Your objection is noted but irrelevant. The shut-down will last as long as needed. The only businesses allowed to open will be medical facilities, police and fire stations, and supermarkets and all of those are to be guarded and on full alert at all times. Any other objections?" There were none so he went on.

"Chief Nigma has stepped up the robotic drones so we'll have video coverage of the whole city. I want everyone armed at all times and if you have to go out, wear body armor. Those of you who have families should tell them to hunker down and stay put. I think it would be best of all senior staff remain here for the time being. I can't afford to lose any of you. Now, Dr. Tetch, please give your report."

Jervis got to his feet with a flourish. He'd been practically bouncing in his seat with impatience and he didn't bother to hide his obvious excitement. Tetch was never as happy as when he had a new puzzle to figure out. It was what had gotten him involved in Jack's staff to begin with. Gotham's monsters were as fascinating to him as they were terrifying to everyone else.

"My staff has found out many things in just the past few hours. I analyzed the full body scan on the subject. Her basic physiology has been changed at every level. We're still awaiting the DNA results and tissue analysis but it's obvious from the scan that the transformation was on a massive scale. A density test shows that her bones are stronger than a human's despite being elongated and thinner in appearance. Her facial structure is a marvel. I believe she may actually possess the echolocation abilities of a true bat.

Her brain waves are like nothing I've ever seen before. She's definitely intelligent, nothing bestial about the level of brain activity but I have no idea yet whether we'll be able to communicate with her. The voice box is still present but has been incorporated into the echolocation structures. We know that the original creature can speak from the handful of accounts of those who've survived meeting him." Jack and Dr. Crane both shuddered slightly as they were among those handful.

"But I can't say if the transformation is the same in all of the creatures. Their master may have created them as drones at a lower level than himself. So I think you'll have to wait at least another couple of days before any interrogation attempts, Commissioner. I need more time to study the data."

"You're planning on interrogating the creature? I suppose you weren't going to invite me to that either." Cobblepot interjected rather peevishly. Jervis gave him a stern look for the interruption. He had been on a roll and disliked having to stop and explain things.

"Yes, I'm planning on trying an interrogation and you're welcome to join us, but as Dr. Tetch just said, it won't be for another few days. Go on, Jervis." Jack nodded at him to continue.

"It's a bit presumptive, but I had Chief Nigma compile

a list of all missing female victims in the past five years. Accounting for rough size as well as blood type, there are six possible matches. When we do interrogate the subject, you might want to try using the names on the list to see if there's a reaction. I'm also trying to get DNA patterns for all six women to try and match it to the results when they are done. Hopefully there will be a match which will help to figure out how long ago this was done to her."

"That's great work, Dr. Tetch and it's not presumptive. I considered asking the Chief to put such a list together but wanted to wait until we had the DNA results. Still, it can't hurt to speculate on her identity. Now are there any questions?"

"Yeah, does all of this mean we're going to take the fight to the Demons?" Bane had always advocated a more aggressive response to the problem of the Bats and there was a gleam of eagerness in his eyes now.

"Possibly. It will depend on everything we find from studying the captive. For now, we will stay on the defensive and do nothing to provoke them further." Bane looked disappointed but Jack knew he'd abide by his orders. Surprisingly, it was Dr. Crane who had the next question.

"Have you made a contingency plan for what will happen if the creature gets loose? Or if the others DO attempt an assault on the building?" Everyone shifted uneasily at the thought and at the note of despair in Crane's voice. He obviously thought the scenario he'd just given voice to was an inevitability rather than just a possibility.

"If the captive gets loose, every officer is ordered to shoot to kill. I'm not taking any chances but that isn't going to happen. If the creatures attempt an attack on this or any other building, all personnel are ordered to do whatever they have to to repel them. Is that understood?" There were nods all around with an especially emphatic one from Bane who probably hoped they would attack so he would have something to fight.

Lt. Stirk looked as though he were going to ask a question but before he could even open his mouth there came an insistent beep from Nigma's cell phone. He looked down, swore, and jumped to his feet.

"The drones are getting sightings of Bat-Demons all over the city!" He punched in a command that brought up the feed to the computer screen behind Jack. Everyone got to their feet and stared at the images. Nigma's robotic drones were programmed to scan for movement especially from above and they were all going wild. The screen flashed image after image of sightings. Most of them were just glimpses, the edge of a wing, or a clawed foot, or the shadow of a winged creature passing overhead. But at least two showed close-ups of the creatures, teeth bared at the cameras.

"But...but, it's not dark out yet." Cobblepot sounded horrified and confused at the sight of the creatures. Several cameras caught sight of terrified civilians running for cover but the Demons weren't attacking anyone. They seemed intent on being seen and nothing else. Jack felt a thread of fear enter his heart as he realized what this was. The Demons were giving them a warning of what was to come. He also realized that in all the images he'd seen, the original was not in sight. Jack would have known him in an instant and he wasn't there.

"Still think we don't need to shut the city down, Mayor?" Dent said but the sarcasm was absent. All of them were chilled by the images. Dr. Crane had turned away, unable to bear the sight but everyone else was staring in horrified fascination. The images were coming in from all over, Robinson Park, the docks, the East End, downtown Gotham. The spell was broken when the door was thrown open by one of Bane's men.

"Sirs! You need to come downstairs right now. We have a situation." Jack was the first out the door but he knew most of them would be right on his heels. What else could have happened? The officer led the way down to the first floor lobby. There were several officers clustered around the reinforced windows, peering out. All of them had their guns drawn but they parted for Napier.

He stared outside taking in the scene with the clinical eye of an experienced police officer. Cobblepot's white limo was parked across the street next to a lamp post in a "No Parking" zone but the mayor wouldn't be leaving in it. The top was crushed where something heavy had landed on it. A stone gargoyle lay in pieces on and around the car. From the lamp post hung the body of Cobblepot's chauffeur. The man had been hung from a rope and his shirt shredded to reveal the Bat-Demon's message carved into his flesh.

"Give it back." Jack read the message slowly trying to ignore all the gory details. Judging from the amount of blood on the man's chest and the look on his face, the message had been carved into his chest while still alive. His neck had been broken judging from the angle his head was lolling at and the rough ropes used to tie his body had also been wrapped around his mouth.

"He was at the corner of the building, smoking. It just dropped out of the sky and left that there. We never even saw it take him." The officer whispered to him. There would be video footage of the attack as they had complete coverage of every area around the building but Jack could imagine it in his mind. The man, relaxed, not expecting any problem under the bright sun when death had struck from above. He could imagine being jerked into the air, too startled to scream until it was too late and then the pain, death and being dropped back down onto the lamp post. This then was where the original Bat-Demon had been. This was his declaration of war.

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A/N: For anyone who doesn't recognize the name, Drury Walker is the former Killer Moth who is now Charaxes in the comics. Bane has no given name in the

comics. However, a storyline in "Gotham Knights" revealed that he was the illegitimate son of Edmund Dorrance, aka King Snake. So I invented a first name for the story and he became Miguel Dorrance.


	4. Part 4, First Interrogation

Part 4-The First Interrogation.

Ownership of the various Batman characters doesn't belong to me, more's the pity.

"There are things of which I may not speak

There are dreams that cannot die

There are thoughts that make the strong heart weak

And bring a pallor into the cheek

And a mist before the eye."

"My Lost Youth," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Jack wasn't expecting much as Dr. Tetch came to give him his twice daily update. At most he figured the neuro-scientist would tell him he needed yet another day for more tests. So Tetch's words this morning came as a surprise.

"There's no match. The DNA has been altered too much and I can't say definitively who she might be." This was not what Jack wanted to hear but he nodded in resignation at Tetch's words. "But I do have some good news. I think we might be able to reverse the process, at least partially."

"What! Are you sure?"

"Yes. The change seems to have been triggered by a unique chemical concoction. We've isolated the components and I think we can synthesize an antidote. I also think we should carry out the interrogation today. If the demon won't talk, we'll begin the reversal procedure."

So three hours after that amazing conversation, Jack found himself standing in the isolation chamber preparing to talk to the demon. The room seemed packed although there were very few present. Jack kept his eyes fastened on the still form of the lesser demon as Dr. Tetch prepared to wake the creature up. Ivy was next to Jack and there were five armed guards present as well as a larger number outside the room in case the creature escaped.

That was unlikely with the only door being blocked by the great bulk of Waylon "Croc," Jones. Jones was one of Bane's men and another of the scant trusted metahumans on Jack's team. His green-scaled, reptilian arms were crossed in defiance and his red eyes never left the table at the center of the room.

Jack didn't turn towards the observation window but he knew who was there. Harvey Dent, Mayor Cobblepot who was too afraid to leave after the attack two days ago, as many scientists as could fit into the room, and a pale-faced Dr. Crane with a small notebook and pen handy. The doctor probably wouldn't be able to write any notes as he already looked like he was going to faint and very well might once the demon awoke. The only consolation was that he couldn't flee as there were too many people in the way.

The past two days had been very quiet in the city. There hadn't been any more attacks as though the Bat-Demon were waiting with the rest of them to see what Jack's response might be. There had been panic after the Demon Swarm as the media had dubbed it but most people had hunkered down rather than trying to flee the city. The female demon's capture had not been revealed to the public so they could only speculate on the reasons for this change in behavior on the demon's part. The announcement of the city-wide shut down had only fueled more speculation but every experienced Gothamite could sense the approaching storm and knew to keep a low profile.

Tetch injected the counter-sedative and retreated back to stand next to Jack. It seemed to take an eternity for the creature to begin to stir although it was really only fifteen minutes or so. The tension rose tenfold as the demon opened her black eyes and looked around groggily. She began to move instinctively and the metal bands stopped her.

They all winced at the piercing shriek the creature let loose once she realized she was a captive. She struggled for a moment, slamming her body and wings against the restraints but they didn't move. The guards did, drawing their weapons and pointing them at the demon who now lay still, breathing heavily, and glaring at all of them.

"I'm Gotham Commissioner Jack Napier and you're in our custody. Would you care to give your name for the record?" Her eyes found Jack and she let out a slow hiss. "That's a no then. I'm going to read you your rights now."

The demon was silent throughout his reading of her Miranda rights but he was convinced she was listening carefully as her ears twitched towards him several times. He doubted there was any lawyer in the country willing to represent the demon but if she wanted one, she'd have to ask.

"Do you want to request that a lawyer be present at this time?" There was no response so he decided to try the names he'd memorized from Tetch's list. "Do you know the location or fate of any of the following people? Barbara Gordon, Helena Bertinelli, Stephanie Brown, Francine Langstrom, Cass..."

"Release me! I'll tear your throat out and feast on your blood if you don't let me go." The demon shrieked and leaned as far forward as she could, trying to break the metal bonds to no avail. The sudden reply made everyone jump including Jack. He hadn't expected a reaction that quickly. Her voice sounded raspy and high-pitched but it was understandable. It had been the fourth name she had responded to, he was sure of it.

"Actually, I'm guessing that's what you'll try if I DO let you go, Francine." He paused as she snarled again at the sound of the name. "What's the matter Francine? Has it been that long since you heard your real name?"

"You know nothing, vermin. You're all just food for us."

"You don't want to eat him. He's so full of chemicals you'd just make yourself sick." Ivy said calmly. The demon focused on her.

"You're the one who took me. You'll regret that, bitch. When we're done with the city, there won't be anything green left for miles and you'll wither and die with the rest of them." Pam seemed unmoved by this tirade although her creeping vines rustled as though in anger. Jack risked a glance at the window and was surprised to see that Crane had not only resisted passing out but was busily scribbling away. Everyone else was glued to the scene.

"We believe we can reverse the procedure and restore you to your human form. Would you like that, Francine?" Jack had debated whether to tell the creature about Tetch's discovery but he judged that it would knock the demon for a loop and he was right. Francine shrunk back from him as though his words alone could change her.

"You're mad. No one can undo the Master's work. I don't believe you." Had that been a note of hope amid the anger? Jack wasn't sure but he thought so.

"He's telling the truth Dr. Langstrom." Tetch interjected. "But tell me, who is the Master? It wouldn't be Kirk would it?"

"How did you...who are you?" The demon-no, Francine-seemed torn between anger and confusion. She was being faced with too many uncertainties.

"My name is Dr. Jervis Tetch. I'm a neurologist. I saw your husband, Robert Kirkland Langstrom, give a speech on bat evolution in London about six years ago. He had an interesting theory about the development of '_Chiroptera_'s' sonar system and how it corresponded to their brain activity.

This was shortly before both of you disappeared and about eight months before the first sighting of the Bat-Demon. So I'm guessing either Kirk is the original Demon or someone stole his work and did this to the two of you." The room was silent as everyone absorbed this information.

"You saw...yes. I remember that speech. We toured London afterwards." There was a wistful note in her tone but then abruptly her face contorted and she shrieked in fury and began thrashing again. "You're trying to trick me! You just want to steal his secrets. I won't tell! I won't." The interview was obviously at an end and Jack signaled one of the guards who shot the thrashing demon with two tranq darts. After a few minutes, the movement slowed and Tetch moved in to administer the final dose of sedative that would put her deeply under.

"Out. NOW." Jack managed to keep his voice level. The guards understood this didn't apply to them and kept their post as the others filed out. Jack saw everyone waiting to ask them questions but he didn't give them a chance. He rounded on Tetch with a fury that would have made most men back off. Instead the head scientist stood his ground and looked up to meet the eyes of Napier who was more than a foot taller than him.

"What the hell was that! You knew who she was and didn't tell me?" All the scientists were silent waiting for their chief to reply. Jervis took off his top hat and ran a hand through unruly red hair with a sigh.

"No, it only came together when I saw the name on the list but I wasn't 100 sure til she reacted to her name. I'm sorry to have butted in on your interrogation but I thought if I appealed to the scientist in her, she might cooperate."

"I want to hear everything you know about Francine Langstrom and her husband and I want to hear it now." Jack had managed to regain control and his voice was calm but there was still an angry spark in his green eyes. Jervis replaced the top hat and stood straight with his hands clasped behind his back looking like a school boy about to recite some memorized passage.

"As I said, I attended a lecture in London given by Dr. Robert Kirkland Langstrom. He was...is the world's leading expert on bats. I met him and his wife Francine very briefly at a reception after wards. They disappeared a few months later after returning to the states, not from Gotham but from Boston. That was at the same time as the upheavals from the arrival of the super villains. Their disappearances were looked into but there were many people disappearing and dying at that time and it went unsolved.

Eight months later, the Bat-Demon was first spotted in Gotham. I certainly didn't see any connection between the two although I suppose I should have. I didn't even really know the Langstroms apart from that brief meeting and my mind was on other things. I don't believe Kirk Langstrom could have created the Bat-Demon. He was a biologist, not a chemist but if someone who was a chemistry expert were to combine Kirk's knowledge of bats with their own concoction then the Bat-Demon's birth may have resulted."

"All right, I guess you weren't hiding anything from me but you picked a really bad time to realize the connection. So, you believe this 'Master,'she spoke of is the kidnapper? That's useful information. We might be able to persuade her to talk based on the notion that her husband's work was stolen and corrupted by the Bat-Demon. But why would anyone want to become a creature like the Bat-Demon?" It was a question that had puzzled him for a long time but even more so now that they had more proof that the creature was human at one time.

"Dr. Crane might be able to speculate better than I but bats are creatures that have the power to scare us. They have many amazing abilities including flight and sonar as well as being adaptable. It's been speculated that bats are one of the creatures that would survive a nuclear holocaust(A/N). I suppose in many ways it made sense to this 'Master,' fellow."

"So what does it gain us, knowing who she is? We know where and when she disappeared but that doesn't bring us any closer to the head demon's identity." He didn't bother to hide his frustration.

"We could check flight info to see which Gothamites were in Boston around that time, boss. We know the demon had to have resources to pull all of this off." Harvey Dent offered.

"That's a good idea. Coordinate that search with Nigma, would you Harv? But it won't tell us everything. This man may have used associates to kidnap the Langstrom's. Still, it's something to look into."

"Sir, if I may interject, I believe we should attempt another interrogation in a day or two. I promise you can ask all the questions this time. I'll stay in the observation room if you like. But there's something else you need to know that might help in the questioning. Francine Langstrom was five months pregnant when she disappeared." There was a collective intake of breath from the room but it was Crane who voiced what they were all thinking.

"Oh my God."

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A/N: I have no idea whether bats would really be expected to survive a nuclear holocaust. I just thought it sounded cool and this IS an alternate reality so maybe it's true there.


	5. Part 5, First Interlude

Part 5, Interlude 1.

Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Note: I figured out why I was thinking bats could survive a nuclear attack in the previous chapter. In "On Leather Wings," the animated episode that introduced Man-Bat, Dr. March(Francine's father) says, "We won't survive the next evolutionary cataclysm but bats will. They're survivors, Mr. Wayne. You should remember that." Also, there is a ton of exposition in this chapter.

"The wanderer pauses in the dominion between thieves

Shielding his mind against the blind spot's storm

The pattern keeps a changeling eye on form

And pokes in the joker dark, dark is the norm."

"The Pattern," Oscar Williams

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"It's Stockholm Syndrome. That's my guess. It may be that her child is still alive and being used as a pawn to ensure her cooperation but she seems very committed. Her threats were not mere bravado. She genuinely wanted to kill all of you in there. And Miss Isley caught her with a plant-child. For a mother who cares for her child to attack and eat another child would indicate a deep-rooted psychosis. There may be elements of brain-washing as well. She didn't seem like a pawn of the Demon but a willing participant in the carnage."

"That's an interesting take, Dr. Crane but do you think there's any chance she'll cooperate?" Jack sat forward in his chair and waited for Jonathan to answer. All of the senior staff was staring in the psychiatrist's direction which normally would have made him nervous. But since the interrogation, he'd seemed calmer somehow. He pushed his glasses back in place and answered Napier with no hesitation.

"It...she may cooperate if you can deduce the correct leverage. The idea of her husband's work being corrupted may be an important point but she seems accepting or at least used to her current state. She may not care how or why the transformation was done to her anymore. Her child's fate would also be a bargaining chip if we knew for certain it was still alive. The child may be dead as none of the Demons we've seen are child-sized. If her son or daughter is being held as a hostage, then promising their safety may get her to talk."

"But we can't guarantee that. Even if she tells us who and where the Bat-Demon is it will still take quite a fight to find and destroy them all. Any captive kid would likely be killed in the meantime either by our actions or by the other demons as punishment." Bane argued.

"Besides that, we know there are probably more than one lair where they roost at night. The child could be anywhere." Stirk put in. This brought about a round of arguing until Jack cleared his throat which quieted them down.

"So your professional assessment is that she won't talk, Dr. Crane?"

"I can't say for sure. There are still too many unknown influences on her decision-making processes for me to make more than a guess as to which way she'll go. There is one more bargaining chip and that is Dr. Tetch's reversal serum. If she is restored to human form again it will cause a huge shift in her psyche, especially if she's resistant to the change. It may make her more willing to help or it could cause a collapse of her ego. Either way, we should proceed carefully with our next actions."

"Understood, doctor. Thank you for the assessment." Napier looked around at the morning meeting participants. Everyone seemed encouraged by the results of the first interrogation last night even though Francine had not been cooperative. They had learned more in that five-minute conversation than in the previous five years of investigating the demons. "Does anyone else have something to add?"

"I do." Edward Nigma had been uncharacteristically quiet through most of the meeting, fussing nervously with a manila folder in front of him. Now he seemed almost angry.

"Go on, Eddie. Have you found something about any visits to Boston?"

"I'm still looking into that. There were numerous city residents who made trips to Boston in the two week before the Langstrom's disappearance and I have to study all of them. No, I have a problem I need to bring to your attention." He had everyone's attention now as he tapped the folder.

"Dr. Tetch, when you asked me to put the list of possible victims together, I brought up all the files of female victims and then discarded some based on age and physical appearance. That search left six matches out of the fourteen missing females attributed to the Bat-Demon. There's just one problem. Francine Langstrom's name shouldn't have been on that list."

Understanding dawned in Napier's mind along with a sudden lurch in his stomach as he considered the possible explanations. Crane, Tetch, Dent and Ivy obviously understood the implications of the statement but some at the table looked confused.

"What do you mean, chief? Wasn't she kidnapped by the Bat-Demon?" Sergeant Drury Walker was one of those confused.

"Kirk and Francine Langstrom were kidnapped in Boston eight months before the Bat-Demon first appeared. The search I did should only have shown victims that disappeared in Gotham after that first appearance. Now the Gotham PD did have a hand in that investigation because the Langstrom's were Gotham residents but their files on the case should not have come up in the search. There was no reason to think the Bat-Demon had anything to do with their disappearances."

"How do you explain her name being present then?" Dr. Tetch looked nervous as did the rest of them now that they all understood that there was something wrong with the situation.

"I looked into their files and found evidence that someone hacked into the system and arranged it so that any search of the Bat-Demon's victims would include the Langstrom's names. This happened about three years ago just before I started as security chief and it would be impossible to do the same thing now with all the security measures I have in place."

"So who do you think did this?" Jack asked as Nigma slid the file over to him. Inside were the files on the Langstroms. The picture of Francine showed a pretty blond woman with stylish glasses and an easy smile. Her husband was an unsmiling man with

slicked-back brown hair and a hawkish face.

"My guess is that either the Langstroms themselves did this or someone else who knew about the Langstrom's connection to the creation of the Bat-Demon. If someone had really studied the files before now they probably would have found the discrepancy. I'm hoping more research will allow me to figure out exactly when and from where the hack occurred."

"But who else knew about the connection?" Dr. Tetch asked and everyone turned to look at him. He turned slightly pale as the reason for their regard hit him. "Surely you don't think I had anything to do with this? I've already told you that I didn't realize the connection until yesterday. If I knew anything I would have said so."

"It wasn't you. You've only been here for a year-and-a-half and this happened over a year before that." Nigma dismissed the notion which made Tetch look relieved although the ever-suspicious Bane still eyed him in a speculative manner. "I'd say someone was trying to help us but they didn't dare give us too much info for fear of being found out so they went about it in a round-about way. I think it's one of the lesser demons."

The silence was absolute as everyone absorbed the statement. If Edward was right, then at least one of the Bat-Demon's victims had tried to help them. And it had taken three years to figure it out. The idea was staggering. What else might they have missed? There had been so many victims of the Demon, both the missing and the dead that no one had ever thought to go through the files and study each case individually. All of them except Tetch and Bane had been here for the past three years and none of them had known there was a clue right at their fingertips.

"I want you to look into every file from the moment of the Langstrom's disappearance. See if you can find any other discrepancies. Take people off other duties to help you if you need it. We need to find everything we can as soon as possible."

"I'm already on it. I've got plenty of help and it's still going to take time. I'll tell you the minute I find anything else." The meeting broke up on that note as everyone began leaving to attend to their duties.

"Dr. Crane, a moment please." Jonathan froze for a second and then turned back to Jack. There was silence between them as the room emptied out and the sound of the door closing made Crane's shoulders slump. Jack tried to adopt a soothing look although it was always difficult to express himself fully due to the nerve damage in his face.

"Sit down." Crane looked miserable as he did so. "I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate your presence yesterday. I know it wasn't easy for you to be there and see her. I'm glad you were able to overcome your fear and properly assess Francine's state-of-mind."

"While I was writing notes I didn't have to look at her. And my...experiences may have made it difficult for me to deal with these creatures but I'm still a professional."

"I understand that. Do you have anything you'd like to add now in private? Was she one of your...captors?" Crane looked pained for a moment and then went stoic.

"There's nothing else I need to say. I don't remember her in particular but I tried not to look at them after a while. Even if she were, I assure you I wouldn't let it affect my actions. I want these creatures destroyed as much as you do." Jack frowned although that also didn't convey well due to the red grin of his lips.

"I may have wanted to see them destroyed at some point but if we can restore them to human form then that would be preferable." There was the briefest flash of anger in Crane's face and then he was impassive again.

"Restoring her or any of the others to human form will be the same as destroying the outer demon. Although I would ask you to consider, if she's made human again, will she be tried for her crimes against Gotham? You saw yourself from the interrogation that she wasn't repentant of her actions."

"I'll consider that after the transformation happens. It may change her mental state as you said. At the next interrogation tomorrow, I want you to observe her reactions and not just listen to her words. Understood?" Crane nodded stiffly and took his leave.

Jack sat in the empty conference room and thought of all the pain and misery the Bat-Demon had caused over the last five years, starting with himself. He had been an up-and-coming police sergeant when he'd responded to the call of a break-in at the Axis Chemical Company along with his partner Roman Sionis. He'd never forget his first sight of the Bat-Demon crossing a catwalk over bubbling vats of chemicals. At first, he'd thought it was a tall man in a black cloak. Then it had turned around at his order to halt and he'd seen the glowing eyes, and the demonic visage as it hissed at him, exposing sharp fangs.

Much of what happened was a blur of images. It had ran at him and he and Roman opened fire. The creature moved so quickly that he'd never been sure if they hit it or not. There hadn't been any blood found at the scene. Even then, the creature had covered its tracks well. Part of him had still thought it was a man in a mask until its taloned hands closed over Roman's throat and ripped his face off. It had tossed his partner's lifeless body into the vats and then turned to him. He'd been too stunned to move as it looked him up and down.

"Not much meat on those bones. Maybe you'll taste better flash-fried." The voice was a deep, masculine growl. It had been fast, too fast, as he tried to fire again. All he remembered was the wing that had slammed into him throwing him back into the vats. When he woke up, his whole life had changed. His nerves had been damaged so that his mouth was frozen in a permanent crimson rictus. His hair and eyes were dyed green and his skin was chalk-white. The doctors had told him he was lucky to be alive, that the chemicals should have killed him.

He didn't consider himself lucky. His new appearance had driven his wife away. Jeannie hadn't been able to take it and had fled Gotham and filed for divorce. She was raising their son alone and he'd never even met the boy. His fellow cops had trouble hiding their horrified reactions to his new look but he hadn't let that deter him. Jack had worked hard to regain his place on the force. He'd been appointed head of the Demon Task Force and worked his way up to Police Commissioner in a mere five years.

But still the Bat-Demon haunted him. He'd seen it several times since then and it had always managed to escape after taunting him for his twisted, clownish visage. He could live with it's personal attention if it wasn't for Harley.

Poor, sweet Harlene Quinzel had been Dr. Crane's assistant. She'd fallen head-over-heels in love with Jack the minute they'd met. For so long, he'd kept his distance, afraid to get her involved with his world but eventually he'd acknowledged his feelings for her. They'd had six months of blissful marriage before that day he'd come home and found her, naked and bleeding, on the floor with the symbol of the Demon drawn in her own blood on her back.

There were so many others; Harvey Dent, scarred with acid dropped from above by the Demon after he'd tried to try it _in absentia_ for crimes against humanity; Victor Fries, their former head scientist whose wife had been slaughtered by the Demon and who'd had a breakdown and left Gotham; poor Jonathan held for weeks and tormented by the creatures before his rescue; and now the Langstroms. He slipped Francine's picture in his jacket and gathered the files together. He was going to read everything Edward had on their guest before the next interrogation. This time he'd be prepared for anything.

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I tried to compare Jack with Commissioner Gordon, his counterpoint in regular continuity. Gordon too had his first wife leave him with their young son and lost his second wife to violence. Hopefully the flashback/exposition wasn't too overbearing. And Jonathan's experiences with the Demons will be explained in full in a future chapter although I've given some info in this one.


	6. Part 6, Second Interrogation

Part 6, The Second Interrogation.

Disclaimer: Still own nothing.

Notes: I wrote and rewrote this chapter so many times trying to get it just right. I'm 95 percentsatisfied with it so I finally decided to post it. Sorry for the long wait.

"The memory throws up high and dry

A crowd of twisted things

A twisted branch upon the beach

Eaten smooth and polished

As if the world gave up

The secret of it's solution."

"Rhapsody on a Windy Night,"

T.S. Eliot

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The next day brought a feeling of _deja vu_ as Jack once again stood in the isolated lab watching Dr. Tetch awaken Francine again. Some of the guards were different but Croc was at the door and Pam and Jervis stood on either side of Jack. He'd allowed Tetch to stay with the promise that the neuroscientist wouldn't interfere in the conversation unless Jack asked him to do so. The same crowd was at the observation window. Dr. Crane's face was impassive as he studied the creature except for a faint nervous twitch at the corner of his eyes as she began to stir.

Francine awoke more quickly this time and took in her surroundings with a calmer attitude than their first session. Her gaze swept over the guards, Croc, and Pam with disdain. She gave a longer, searching look to Tetch who stood impassively at Jack's side and then her eyes fixed on the Commissioner's green ones with obvious hatred. Fangs bared, the she-demon's regard promised him a slow, torturous death if she were loose.

"Good morning, Mrs. Langstrom. Shall we continue our little talk from the other day?"

"I have nothing to say to you, vermin."

"Then just listen. My offer to restore your human form still stands and there's more. If you cooperate, we will drop all charges stemming from your actions as a demon and I promise we will do everything in our power to help Kirk and the others. Whoever the original demon is, he stole your husband's work, made the two of you his slaves, and twisted your form. Surely you can't have any loyalty to him?"

"What makes you think we were forced into anything?" Francine hissed. "Maybe we wanted this to happen. Maybe we've been set free from the frailties of humanity and ascended to a new plane of evolution. Did you ever think of that, freak?"

Napier was taken aback. He'd assumed her attitude was a result of brainwashing by her "master," but maybe he'd been wrong. If that were the case, then he doubted she'd cooperate in any way. The thought that she'd done this to herself by choice was frightening but he got the impression she was bluffing.

"And what about all the others he's turned? Did they agree to their new existence?" Francine merely regarded him with a bored expression. He took a deep breath. "And what about your child? Has he or she been ascended to this 'new plane,' as well?"

The black eyes went wide and her breath hissed out in surprise. She looked at Tetch and gave a deep menacing growl that made the guards shift nervously but Tetch just looked at her sadly.

"My...child is none of your concern. And even if I were to tell you of the Master's true name, it wouldn't help you. He's faster, stronger, and smarter than any of you and you'll never defeat him. He probably left you a message already, didn't he?"

"Yes. He said, 'Give it back.' Do you like being called an 'it' Francine? Do you like being referred to as property?" She made no reply but seemed to be deep in thought. He could sense the anxiety in this room and the next one. This couldn't last much longer. The guards were too tense with her awake and she was too dangerous to allow any opportunities to escape. Crane was staring at her with a queasy look. The twitch at his eyes was worse and he had a death-grip on his pen. Jack couldn't tiptoe around everything anymore.

Removing the picture of the Langstroms pictures from his coat, he advanced towards her, holding them up. There were startled exclamations from the guards although he was careful not to get in their line of fire. He stopped just feet from her. Her eyes were huge as she regarded him and her claws were twitching in their restraints as though she wanted to eviscerate him right there. But when he held the pictures in front of her face, she tried to look away.

"What's the matter? Are you afraid of these images? You look happy here. There are more in your files." He took them out too and held them up. Pictures of the Langstroms together, laughing with their arms around each other. "We are going to change you back with or without your cooperation. You could make this easier on everyone if you agreed to it but either way, Francine Langstrom will no longer be a Bat-Demon."

He put the pictures away and spun on his heels to march back across the room. Ivy looked alarmed and her vines were halfway across the floor as though she'd meant to drag him back. Croc looked impressed. Dr. Tetch was studying Francine, not him, but he spared a glance of approval in the Commissioner's direction. Crane looked like he wanted to vomit. There was a definite look of horror on his face at the sight of anyone willingly going that close to a demon, even a restrained one.

Jack reached the wall and turned so his back was against it. He regarded their prisoner impatiently. She was obviously struggling in her head with conflicting ideas. Her ears were moving all over the place, her body was shaking, and her breathing was harsh and labored.

"Well? What's it going to be? I can have you sedated again and have the reversal happen while you're unconscious." He raised a hand to signal the guards to fire the tranquilizers.

"WAIT!" Everyone went still as Francine hung her head. She made a low keening noise that made them all shiver. A shudder went through her body and then she raised her head again and fixed him with that stare. "If I agree to cooperate, will you guarantee that Kirk and I won't be charged with anything? And can you guarantee my children's safety?"

"Children!" He was startled. She'd had twins? "How many children do you have?"

"I suppose you could say that they're all my children. I helped create the process that changed all of us. But in reality, I have two. Rebecca is five. She was born before the transformation. She's human but my son...Aaron is three. He was born a Bat-creature. I doubt the reversal drugs would work on him. If I agree to cooperate and tell you everything I know, in exchange for their safety, will you promise me your men won't simply kill my son on sight?"

"Yes." It was a partial lie. He couldn't be sure what his men might do in battle especially Bane and his hotheaded squad. But he could tell them not to shoot any small Bat-Demons. "I promise I'll do everything in my power to protect your children."

"You better. If anything happens to them or Kirk, our deal is off and I'll kill you myself and the rest of your lackeys as well."

"I understand that. Now what's the original Demon's name?"

"I'll tell you after the transformation, assuming it works." Jack didn't like that but there was nothing he could do to make her talk so he had to live with it.

"All right."

The scientists in the window went scrambling as Tetch signalled them. A panel in the wall was opened and a capped syringe was handed through. Dr. Tetch glanced at Jack who nodded. The little Brit walked over to Francine with no hint of trepidation and carefully injected the contents into her veins. She made no move but her eyes followed him as he walked back across the room.

"The effects will take time, perhaps even hours. It may be painful, Dr. Langstrom but it will work." Dr. Tetch promised her as they all settled in to wait. For perhaps twenty minutes, nothing happened. The guards shifted nervously. Someone coughed and they jumped a little as the sound seemed to echo.

Just as Jack was beginning to worry that the formula wouldn't work, Francine began keening and thrashing. Her back arched, wings flailing in their restraint as she ever so slowly began to change. The fur covering her body fell out and drifted to the floor. The skin around her wings shrank becoming skeletal hands and then normal human limbs. She screamed as her face shifted, the ears melting back into her head and the very bones cracking and rearranging themselves like ice floes shifting over running water.

Most of them looked away, covering their ears to block out the horrible sounds but Jack forced himself to watch the whole time. Dr. Tetch did as well, wincing sometimes at the obviously painful transformation, but not turning his gaze from the process he had begun.

Finally, the transformation was complete. A naked, bald female form hung from the restraints that barely contained her smaller form. Her head hung down on her chest and her eyes were closed. Only her harsh breathing and the rise of her chest told them all that she had survived the ordeal.

Pam was the first one to respond. She moved swiftly across the floor and her vines reached out to ease the woman to the floor. She'd always felt more pity for women and her vines were capable of defending her if Francine became violent. Jack joined her and peeled off his long jacket, wrapping it around the still form. Then he stepped back as Tetch crouched to check on her.

"She's unconscious but seems unharmed. The transformation was too much for her. Her heart rate, breathing, and pupil reaction are all consistent with a state of shock. We need to get her to the infirmary."

"Fine but first I have to do this." Jack removed a pair of handcuffs from his belt and closed them over Francine's wrists. They couldn't afford to take chances. The medical staff had been ready for this and were ushered in with a stretcher. The guards followed Jack and the others out.

Once they had her settled on the infirmary bed, she was once again chained hand and foot and guards were posted in the room. The infirmary had several components and they'd placed her in a quarantine room which had the advantage of making it easier to contain her. She didn't look dangerous lying there in a green hospital gown but Jack always erred on the side of caution. After all, normal human beings could be psychotic killers as much as any mutated creature.

"What now?" Pam said softly. She appeared unsettled as did they all. The Bat-Demons were terrifying but they'd known how to react towards them. This frail human woman was an enigma. The war was about to go in a new and potentially more dangerous direction. Jack wasn't even sure how to feel. Part of him had assumed the transformation might not work. Now that it had, he felt a sense of trepidation.

"She's in stable condition. Her vitals are good for someone who's just gone though a major physical trauma. All we can do now is wait for her to wake up." Dr. Tetch answered just as softly. The doctors were silent as they monitored Francine's condition. Everyone seemed to feel the same sense of uncertainty.

Jack stayed in the room for hours, taking reports from aides and team members who cycled in and out of the room. All of them came to look at the woman in the bed even if their stated reason for being there was legitimate. No one knew how to feel.

Several hours after the transformation, Dr. Crane slipped into the room. He avoided Jack's eyes and simply stood there, out of the way of the medical staff, and stared at Francine for a long moment. Then without a word, he turned and hurried out of the room. Jack sighed inwardly but kept his vigil.

It was late in the day, nearly dusk when Francine began to stir. The doctors and nurses rushed to check her vitals, talking softly to her as her blue eyes opened and looked around her with confusion. Jack watched as the realization came to her, as her eyes widened in panic and she fought the restraining hands of the guards. Jack waved them all away and everyone melted away from the bedside to let Jack approach.

Francine was sitting up in bed now, her arm bleeding where she had torn out the I.V. in her struggle. He sat down next to her and regarded her solemnly. She was looking at her hands, turning them over and examining the pale, human skin, and the short nails so unlike her talons. Her hands went up to wander over her face, tracing the features lost five years ago.

"How are you feeling, Francine? Would you like some water?" He offered her a cup poured from the pitcher beside him and she nearly tore it out of his hands, downing it all in one desperate gulp. The water seemed to steady her and she calmed a bit.

"It...worked." Her voice was tired and scratchy like someone fighting a bad cold but it was much more feminine now without the hissing quality exhibited by the Demon.

"You thought it wouldn't work?" She shook her head a fraction, still absorbed in studying her surroundings. "Then why did you make that bargain with me?"

"You will honor it, won't you? I wasn't kidding when I said you'd pay if anything happened to Kirk or the children." She glared at him and then broke out in more coughing. Her throat was still sore from the transformation and he handed her another cup of water. He didn't miss the fact that she hadn't answered his question but chose to let it pass for now.

"I swear I'll honor it. But you still have one more promise to fulfill. The original Demon's name."

She sat in silence, taking her time about sipping the water. Everyone in the room seemed to be holding their breath waiting for her answer. Actually, everyone in the building as Nigma had wired the room for sound and was broadcasting it throughout the headquarters. Finally, she placed the paper cup down and nodded.

"The master's,...I mean the original demon's name is Bruce Wayne."

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I feel a little as though I've rushed the big revelation(although it's only so to Jack and co.) but I think it works. For the record, Kirk and Francine do have two children in the comics-Rebecca and Aaron. Aaron wasn't born a man-bat hybrid in the comics but he is stuck in that form and the reversal drugs don't work on him so I decided to incorporate it into the story.


	7. Part 7, Revelations

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing own I.

"For those who walk in darkness

Both in the daytime and the nighttime

The right time and the right place are not here

No place of grace for those who avoid the face

No time to rejoice for those who walk among noise

and deny the voice."

"Ash Wednesday"

T.S. Eliot

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The whole building was silent. Everyone stared at Francine who smiled wanly, apparently amused by their reactions. Jack was taken aback, unsure of how to react to her proclamation. Bruce Wayne couldn't be the Bat-Demon. It was impossible for so many reasons. Jack had met the man at various functions and he'd always come off as cold, selfish, and arrogant. He'd treated Jack with a mixture of amusement and contempt every time they'd met but could he really be a cold-blooded monster?

"You're lying. Bruce Wayne is human. I saw him not three weeks ago at the annual Police Fundraiser. He was no Bat-Demon." His voice was flat as he crossed his arms and glared at her. "Don't play games with me if you want me to honor our bargain."

"He modified the formula so he can change whenever he wants. Think about it, Jack. Why is it you could never find the Demon? Because he's only the Demon when he wants to be. He has the money and connections to plant false leads and to keep the rest of us, his minions, hidden away. It's the perfect set-up. The man's a genius."

"What is his purpose? Why would he want to be the Bat-Demon?"

"You do know his story, don't you? Parents shot dead in front of him when he was a boy and himself injured and scarred from the gun of a two-bit thug? And no one seemed to care. He felt alone as he struggled through months of therapy. Even his old butler left him. He wanted revenge. He wanted everyone to suffer like he had. So he kidnapped Kirk and I to help him with his plan.

He loves bats you see. The majority of people are afraid of them. They associate them with darkness, evil, and sickness. But Wayne saw them as powerful totems. Kirk and I know more about bats than anyone. He wanted us to make him a bat-hybrid, to give him the power to incite fear and horror in others and it worked."

"How could you help him like that? And why did he turn you and Kirk?" Jack was still horrified by the thought that the Bat-Demon had been under his nose all along and he'd never suspected a thing. But his question made Francine's smile turn to an expression of fury. The guards made sure their weapons were handy. Even transformed back, she scared all of them.

"Damn you! Do you think we had a choice? My children are his hostages against us so that we would help him. Kirk and I would never have developed the serum otherwise." Panting, she lay back after her little outburst, having exhausted what little energy she had. When she continued speaking, her voice was more even. "Once we'd developed the serum, he needed guinea pigs to try it on. He changed Kirk first and later me. Then he used his own expertise to alter the formula for his own use so his change wasn't permanent."

"So you were slaves of his." Jack had sat down by now, suddenly feeling very tired. Things were getting complicated.

"Yes. The change altered our thought processes. We became animals, killing others to satisfy our needs. Wayne found a way to control us, a sonic frequency that makes us obey him. I'm not proud of some of the things I've done but I had no control over my actions."

"You seemed pretty in control of yourself when you were threatening me before. For an animal, your speech was coherent and logical."

"You don't understand what it was like. Yes, I was cognizant enough to speak clearly but the animal is dominant. My thoughts were all bent towards killing all of you and escaping. I could feel Wayne calling me every moment I was awake and that made things worse. It's like a horrible itch you can't scratch and it was driving me crazy. The threats were motivated by those feelings and I didn't mean them."

"Tell me everything you know."

"Wayne Manor is his base of operations but he has safe houses scattered all over the city. Besides Wayne, there are twelve of us. He likes that number, having thirteen bat-demons in existence although I guess this messes up his system." She tapped herself and smiled wearily. "After you killed Jason three years ago, he was extremely angry because it meant he had to pick someone else to be a minion. He's very selective. Most of the people we take end up as food. He picks his followers carefully."

"Based on what?" Jack tried to ignore the reference to "Jason." He was the only person to ever have a confirmed kill of a demon which had earned him his job as Commissioner but he preferred not to think of the thing as a person. The body had been carried away by the others but everyone had known it was dead. The week afterwards had been one of increased attacks and random terror for Gotham.

"I don't know. Other than Kirk and I, he seemed to pick randomly. He's got followers of both sexes and various ages but I know he's always been careful about who he turns."

"How is it done? Do they have to be injected with the serum or can he transmit it with a bite?" She snorted in response.

"He's not a vampire. They're brought back to the mansion and he injects them with the serum. Then he brainwashes them and sets them loose. He has a whole complex below his mansion. It's built in natural caves but he's modified it extensively. And it's very heavily fortified with all sorts of hidden defenses. You'll have a tough time taking it if you even can."

"Can you tell me the names of those he's turned?"

"Yes, I can make a list later." She was definitely starting to fade now, her whole body going limp, her voice slurred a bit and her eyes half-closed. But she had enough energy to give him a direct look. "The one you killed was named Jason Todd. He was a street kid, a punk, and he was only sixteen years old when you shot him."

Jack shuddered despite himself as Francine faded back to sleep. He hadn't realized that the one he'd killed had been that young. It probably wouldn't have mattered anyway. The demon had attacked a fellow officer. The creature hadn't seen him where he crouched in an alley a few feet away. It had been struggling with Lt. Arthur Brown who was bleeding and dazed when Jack had stepped into view and emptied an entire clip into its head.

He never forgot the horrible sound of it's screeching as it stumbled backwards before collapsing. He'd dragged Brown back into the alley as two other demons arrived. They'd scooped the body up and taken off. Brown had survived that encounter although not without considerable scarring. It had only been later, when his daughter Stephanie had disappeared, that Arthur had died, trying to fend off the claws of his daughter's abductors.

Jack had shot perps before, but never one that young. But he couldn't think about that now. They had to decide what to do about all these new revelations. He turned to Dr. Tetch who had been listening to all of this with amazement.

"Jervis, can you go tell Nigma to arrange a meeting of the senior staff in an hour?"

"Yes, but what will you be doing in that time?"

"I've got to check on a few things." Confident that Jervis and Eddie would take care of all of the details for the meeting, he started to leave the room and then stopped and looked at Croc. "Keep an eye on her. If she wakes up and causes any trouble, use only non-lethal means to subdue her, is that clear?"

Waylon nodded while never taking his red eyes from the unconscious figure in the bed. Jack walked down the corridors of the infirmary level barely even noticing those he passed. His thoughts were in a very dark place right now for so many reasons. Anyone who saw the grim look on his clownish face knew better than to bother him and he was left alone from the usual petty problems and details of his job.

In his office, he locked the door and sat down at the computer. A few key strokes brought up the requested file and he read it slowly, digesting the information within.

File #34-6741-05

Todd, Jason Alan

Hair: Black

Eyes: Blue

Ht: 5'7

Record: Juvenile records sealed.

Status: Declared as a missing persons, 4-18-04. Whereabouts unknown.

Jack stared at the picture of the young man that was included with the file. It was hard to reconcile the sneering, youthful face with the demonic creature he'd shot. He took a moment to feel regret for the loss of the young man's life and then pushed it away.

When it came right down to it, Wayne was responsible for Jason Todd's death. Wayne was the one who had made the boy into a monster who killed without mercy. Just another death to hang on the Bat-Demon's head when they finally got him. Jack closed the file and headed towards the meeting.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"We now know who the Bat-Demon is and where his central base is located. But I know that all of you are smart enough to realize that nothing is going to get any easier. Wayne's manor is going to be heavily fortified and there are still the other demons to contend with.

We need to plan for every contingency before we go in.

And we need time to make those plans but I don't know how much more time we have before he attacks us in earnest. He's smart and he'll have to consider the possibility that Francine had told us everything. So we won't get the element of surprise here. I need to hear any and every suggestion you have as to ways we can put ourselves on equal footing with the demons when we go after them."

"I have some ideas." Nigma was the first to answer Jack's challenge which he'd expected. "As soon as Langstrom announced the Bat-Demon was Wayne, I pulled up everything I could find on him. I have schematics of his manor as well as geographic surveys from that area. I think there may be a way to get into this cave system of his from well outside of the grounds.

Also, I've had the techs working on a new weapon. It's a sonic disruptor. If Wayne is controlling the other demons with a sonic frequency, this should block his signal. Unfortunately, we haven't had a chance to test it yet but if it works it will disorient the demons."

"That's great. It's a good start. Anyone else?"

"I believe we can take the reversal drug and find a way to shoot it like a dart at the demons. That would knock them out of the fight and reduce their numbers. We can make up enough for everyone to carry a dart gun armed with the drug." Jervis offered.

"That's a good idea but the change takes time and we'll still have to fend them off until it takes effect. But it's something to consider."

"If they're in these caves, we can try pumping gas in to sedate all of them. But if they're scattered all over the city, then we're going to be fighting on multiple fronts." Bane put in. It was unusual for him to be so restrained. Generally, he would have advocated killing all of them. But Francine's transformation had had the effect of subduing his bloodlust a bit. It had reminded all of them that these creatures they were fighting were still human on some level.

"What about thermal imaging? We know the Demon's body temperature is higher than ours. If we're given a list of hideouts by Langstrom, we can scout them out from the air and tell whether they're in the building or not." Walker offered, always eager for a chance to use his helicopters against the Demons.

"That's a good idea. The only problem is we'd have to secure any clear buildings to prevent them from fleeing there if we attack the locations we actually find them at."

The ideas flew around the room, some good, some implausible, but the important thing was they were thinking. They needed to prepare for battle. Jack wouldn't have the deaths of any more children on his conscience. They were finally going to take the war to the Demon. Wayne was going down.


	8. Part 8, Jonathan's Story

Part 8, Jonathan's Story.

Disclaimer: Ownership still belongs to DC Comics, not me.

"The man is hungry and keeps moving forward on all fronts,

His hair is loosening, his teeth are at bay, he breathes fear

His nails send futile tendrils into the belly of the atmosphere

Every drop of his blood is hanging loose in the universe."

"The Man Coming Toward You,"

Oscar Williams

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The next morning was a busy one. Everyone was working feverishly on various projects and plans at Jack's orders. Time was of the essence. Indeed, it was amazing to Commissioner Napier that the Bat-Demons hadn't committed any further attacks since the Bat-Swarm three days ago. The waiting was making him nervous.

Jack himself didn't have as much to do. His job was to approve or disapprove the plans and projects when they were finished. He went to the quarantine room to check on Francine and found her awake again and sitting up in bed. Croc was on shift again or perhaps he'd never really left. Jack knew better than to order him to rest. Waylon didn't need much sleep and his service here was far more important than anything else he might be doing so he let it be.

Francine still looked tired and pale but she appeared calmer. The remnants of a meal were being taken away as he entered. The nurses had hand-fed her rather than risk unstrapping her arms. Trust was going to be a long time coming if it ever did.

"Hello, Jack."

"Hello, Francine. How are you feeling?"

"Tired." She grimaced and flexed her wrists in the restraints. "But I feel better, like I'm getting stronger every second." Jack took a seat at the foot of the bed.

"Do you feel like talking some more?"

"I suppose." She looked pensive for a moment. "It almost seems like a dream now, everything I went through these past five years."

"I would have said nightmare but semantics aside, I'd like to ask what you think he'll do next."

"Wayne? It's tough to say with any certainty. He's completely insane and ruthless but he's also a genius and his cunning knows no equal. He may send the others out on killing sprees or he may do nothing wanting you to be afraid every moment wondering when he'll strike. He won't try to rescue me directly. I'm nothing but a pawn to him. His only interest is how much you'll learn from me."

"How much control does he have over the others? Does he give you each specific instructions every day or does he just send you out to attack at random?"

"Usually the latter. He may give specific instructions to certain of us but he likes the chaos of just sending us out to feed and letting us pick our own section to terrorize. He has his favorites, his pets, and they're usually the ones he directs more readily. The rest of us, including Kirk and I were just pawns to him."

"Can you tell me the names of those he's changed?" Jack got out a pen and paper as she nodded. He wrote the names down as she spoke them.

Kirk Langstrom

Richard Grayson

Timothy Drake

Barbara Gordon

James Gordon

Helena Bertinelli

Cassandra Cain

Stephanie Brown

Renee Montoya

Selina Kyle

His head shot up at that last one. Officer Kyle? She was one of the Bat-Demons?! Well that proved that Francine was telling the truth about being brainwashed and controlled. Selina Kyle had been one of his best officers and there was no way she'd go along with Wayne's plans if her mind hadn't been altered in some way.

"That makes ten. You said he likes having thirteen demons in existence. You and Wayne would only make twelve so who's the thirteenth demon?" She shuddered and turned her head away.

"My son, Aaron. He doesn't hunt with the rest of us but he's still transformed. Wayne's grooming him as his protégé. He wants Aaron to take his place someday. And God help me, I was actually proud that my child was looked upon so favorably."

"Why didn't he change your daughter as well?" He didn't want to ask as she looked on the verge of tears but he had to know more.

"That was part of our agreement. I would help him out in exchange for my daughter's life. Of course, he could have changed her after he changed me. I was in no position to argue but I think it amuses him to keep her around and expose her to all the horrors we commit."

"Can you tell me about some of them?" He kept his voice gentle as she composed herself.

"Well, several years ago he wanted to train some of the new recruits. Hunting opportunities were scarce because most Gothamites had learned to stay inside after dark. So he secured captives, three men and two women.

He kept them in cages in separate rooms. He let all of us tease them, pretending like we were going to attack them or just having us circling their cages continuously. They were all so afraid that they couldn't even bring themselves to go to sleep. Then he designated four of them as prey and let the newer converts do whatever they wanted to them.

Two of them killed their victims quickly but the other two...Cain and Drake made their prey suffer. Drake especially, his victim took over an hour to die. I won't tell you the details of what they did. I don't even want to think about it right now."

Jack was shaken at this but he knew the creatures were brutal. He had to know more.

"What happened to the fifth captive?"

"What? You mean he hasn't told you himself? I'm surprised." She had that condescending amused tone again and Jack felt his heart freeze as he realized who she meant. "I would have thought you'd gotten the story out of Dr. Crane by now."

"Are you saying you know who Dr. Crane is and what he went through?"

"Yes. He took longer to break than I would have thought but I think Wayne liked toying with him and seeing his fear. So he didn't tell you what happened?"

"He claims he doesn't remember most of it." His voice was tight. It almost felt like a betrayal to admit that to her. Crane's problems shouldn't be the source of idle banter but he had to know what had gone on those three years ago.

"That may be. Who would want to remember such horrible things? But I doubt he's forgotten as much as he claims. Do you know how he escaped?"

"He didn't. We got a tip about bat-demon sightings. My men were searching an abandoned building and found him in a cage, malnourished and nearly catatonic."

"Who do you think called that tip in? Wayne wanted you to find the Scarecrow. That's what Wayne called him anyway. Poor, skinny, fearful, little man."

"Why would he just let Dr. Crane go? Was he trying to scare us or show us what he was capable of?"

"I don't know. But Wayne never does anything without a purpose. Maybe you should ask the good doctor." Her voice was mocking and he felt ill. Sometimes she seemed to be Francine, a normal woman who had gone through a horrible ordeal. But other times he could swear he saw the bat-demon peering out through her eyes and speaking in her voice.

Was this all a ploy? Could she still be loyal to Wayne after all he'd done to her and her family? Was she trying to sow dissension among his ranks by implying there was something more to Crane's release? Despite all his misgivings about her motivations, he knew one thing for sure. He needed to talk to Jonathan again and this time he couldn't accept any evasion.

Taking his leave of her, he set off to find Pam. Was it his imagination that Francine's eyes and mocking smile followed his every move as he left? He didn't turn around to find out. He had Pamela paged and she met him in his office. Her eyes narrowed as he closed the door behind her.

"We have a problem."

"Is it Langstrom? Did she try to escape?"

"No, although she's part of the problem. It's Dr. Crane." Methodically, he related his conversation with Francine and his troubling conclusions. "I need to get him to talk but I don't want to do it by myself. He might become agitated if I try and force him. I want you there as back up."

"He won't talk. You'll just drive him back into catatonia if you try to force him. There are some things the mind doesn't want to remember. However, there is another way. I know of chemicals that will loosen the tongue. I think they're your best bet."

"You want me to drug Dr. Crane against his will with some sort of truth serum?" Jack couldn't keep the horror out of his voice. Jonathan was one of them and it was unthinkable to treat him like a criminal. Jack didn't believe that Crane was any sort of traitor. He simply believed that the psychiatrist remembered more than he was telling and that they needed all the information they could get right now.

"We're at war, Jack. Now is no time to get squeamish. I have a formula I created that will make him answer any question truthfully and without reservation. Best of all, he won't remember being questioned afterwards. It puts the subject in the chemical equivalent of a hypnotic state. He won't be hurt. Hell, you should probably use it on Francine while you're at it."

He'd almost forgotten that she was a biochemical botanist. Doubtless, this invention of hers was derived from plants of some kind. It seemed so easy but he still had his doubts about the morality of it. But really, what choice did he have?

"All right. We'll do it in a few hours." He hoped he was doing the right thing. It was true they were at war but it seemed wrong to do this to one of his own men. But they were running out of time. Wayne wouldn't stay quiet forever. They needed to act fast.

Two hours later, approaching Jonathan's office with a mug of coffee, he tried to tell himself that this was necessary but it was still so hard to knock on the door and then enter at Crane's murmured, "Come in."

The psychiatrist was hunched over his notebook, his thin hands tracing along the neat lines of his own handwriting. He wore a look of puzzled concentration that didn't leave his face as he looked up to see Jack standing there. Jonathan looked tired, his blue eyes seemingly huge behind the wire-rim glasses. Jack shut off the little voice in his head telling him this was wrong and conjured up his best smile.

"Hi, Jonathan. I brought you some coffee. You look like you need it."

"Thanks, but don't you have more important things to do than playing errand boy?" Jonathan took the mug but held it without sipping it as he regarded Jack. Was that suspicion in his voice or just exhaustion? Maybe Jack was starting to get paranoid in his old age.

"Well, I also came down here to ask if you were willing to be present in the room when I interview Francine again. Maybe you could even talk to her yourself while you're there."

Crane flinched a bit and then took a gulp of the coffee to steady himself. Jack tried not to show any relief. If Crane hadn't been willing to drink the coffee, this would all be for nothing.

"I suppose I could try. She doesn't look like a Demon anymore. It might even be interesting from a psychological standpoint." He paused and took another gulp. "Still, it's hard to look at her and not see the creature that she once was. Or possibly still is. You shouldn't trust her, Commissioner. Just because she looks human doesn't mean she's not still a monster of sorts." He drained the cup and put it down on his desk.

Pam had said that the affects of the drug wouldn't take long to take hold so Jack kept himself talking about anything he could think of. He discussed avenues of questioning with Crane who seemed perfectly agreeable to the conversation which was unlike him. After ten minutes, Jack was sure the drug had taken effect. Crane's eyes had a slightly glazed look to them although he spoke without any hesitation or slurring. Jack took a chance.

"Jonathan, do you remember how you were captured by the Demons?" For a moment, the psychiatrist frowned and Jack thought he'd made a mistake but then Crane nodded.

"It wasn't a Bat-Demon. I was invited to Wayne Enterprises to speak to Wayne himself about possible funding for our psychiatric department. Everything went well. Wayne seemed normal enough, a little arrogant maybe but he's rich so it's to be expected. Then I drove home but I began to feel dizzy and had to pull over near Robinson Park. I must have passed out although I don't recall doing so. When I woke up, I was in a cage in the dark with glowing eyes all around me."

This was more than he'd said before. Crane's story after his rescue had been that he didn't remember the events of that day, that it was all a blur. Of course, his appointment with Wayne was public record but security tapes had shown him leaving the parking garage in his own car so no one had suspected Wayne. His car had been found in the East River, one week after his disappearance and there had been no trace of Jonathan until his rescue.

"What did they do to you?"

"Nothing much at first. For the first few days, all I saw was the lesser demons. I was fed just enough scraps of food to keep me alive. They liked to circle my cage or just watch me from the dark. Sometimes they would come up hissing and growling and pretend to try and get at me through the bars. They could sense my fear and wanted to make it worse. They succeeded."

"What did Wayne himself do?"

"I didn't know it was Wayne then. He was always in Bat-Demon form during our 'sessions.' They started a few days after my capture. I don't know how long it was. Time loses meaning when you're always in the dark. That first time, when he came and yanked me out of the cage, I thought I was dead for sure.

He...he wouldn't let the others touch me, just scare me. But he liked to hurt me. He liked me to be afraid at all times when he was with me. Each time it was different both in location and in what happened. I'd be drugged and then wake up in a new place. Often, it was a cave of some sort. The lights were kept low to heighten the fear but I think it was quite large. Other times I'd be in various buildings. It always stank and it was always dark. That didn't matter to them. They can see just fine in the dark.

The Bat-Demon said that he wanted to see how much it would take to make me break mentally. He found it amusing that I was hired to psychoanalyze him and now he was doing the same to me. I was a guinea pig for his psychological experiments. He wanted to break me but he wanted to make it last as long as possible too.

Sometimes he'd inject me with drugs and then tell me things that I still don't remember. I remember him whispering to me but the words are gone. Sometimes, he'd cut me or shock me with electrodes. Then he found out about some of the ideas in my head."

"What do you mean?" Jack leaned forward, fascinated and confused by Crane's matter-of-fact recitation. He wanted to ask questions, learn more details but he feared to interrupt lest it alter Jonathan's train of thought. Crane's background as a lecturer seemed to be coming in handy now as he talked on.

"You remember that I have degrees in both psychology and biochemistry? Well, I had some ideas for a drug that would allow for the fusion of both. A drug in gas form that would help ease the psychoses of many of my patients by altering the neurochemical levels in their brains. It would take away their fears, their obsessions and neuroses and improve their mental fortitude.

You see, fear is the key to all of life's problems. It holds us back and makes us weak. How much more could humanity accomplish if fear were banished from our souls? But I hadn't done anything with the idea. There was never enough time to work on it properly and there were ethical considerations as well.

The Bat Demon had no such qualms. He broke me down, made me tell him the chemical formula I had in mind. Then he altered it slightly to serve his own needs. I was the first one he tried it on and it worked just as he had hoped."

"What did the drug do to you?"

"It made me more susceptible to his mental suggestions. I had no fear of death or of the demons. It took away any human feelings until I was just as mad as him. He made me...participate in the killings. He made me one of them without even having to make me a Demon. I did whatever I was told like a puppet, horrible things, and I remember every minute of it. He also wanted to see how well he could block me from speaking of any of this so he gave me some specific instructions as to what to tell you and how to act and then he put me in that cage for your men to find.

I physically couldn't speak of anything I'd seen or done without passing out. You thought my fainting spells back then to be from stress but that wasn't the case. That monster is still in control of me, even now. He also planted a failsafe in my mind in case you ever found a way around the mental blocks which you have."

Jack had been more and more horrified as Crane had talked and now he was too startled to react as the psychologist's face went from passive to a snarl of hatred. Jonathan launched himself over the desk, faster than Jack could follow and then his thin hands were around Jack's neck. Jack struggled to break the hold but Jonathan was seemingly possessed and his grip was implacable.

Dark spots danced in front of Jack's eyes and he realized that even here, the Bat Demon could get at him. He had several inches and quite a few pounds on Crane but all of his efforts to fight back were in vain. As the dark spots expanded and his hands clawed uselessly at Crane's arms, he heard a shout and the sound of the door slamming open. Crane gave a muffled groan and then his hands slid from Jack's neck. His eyes rolled back in his head as he fell backwards.

Commissioner Napier fell to his knees, panting for breath and then Pam was there and she was helping him to sit back against the wall. His neck ached and he was sure there were going to be bruises around his pale throat.

"I heard the fight from outside. What happened?" Jack glanced at Crane who lay crumpled on the carpet a foot away. Pam's vines still clutched the heavy book she'd used to knock him out.

"I found out what happened to him. And I think we're in trouble. Go find Tetch. NOW." As she ran out of the room, he laid his head back against the wall and continued taking deep breaths trying to get the dizziness to go away. He was going to need a clear head to deal with this latest problem.

&&&&&&&&&&&

I'm sorry it took so long for me to update this story, hangs head in shame. Many different things conspired to prevent me from finishing this chapter in a timely fashion especially a bad case of writers block. But I promise the next chapter will not take nearly as long and I will finish this story. I never leave a story unfinished so please, just be patient.


	9. Part 9, Picking Up the Pieces

Picking Up the Pieces

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"As we grow older,

The world becomes stranger

The pattern more complicated

Of dead and living.

Not the intense moment

Isolated, with no before or after

But a lifetime burning in every moment."

"East Coker (V)."

T.S. Eliot

Jack sat on the edge of the bed taking slow breaths through the oxygen mask. His neck was discolored from the ring of bruises that stood out starkly against the white skin but there didn't appear to be any permanent damage. Talking would be painful for a few days but at least he was still alive.

He looked across the room to where Crane lay on a bed, sedated and restrained. The psychologist had a mild concussion from the blow to his head but was otherwise unharmed, at least physically. Jack couldn't even begin to guess what the man's mental state might be when he regained consciousness.

Would he even remember anything? Pam had said that he wouldn't have no memory of anything he said or did while under the influence of her drug. Coupled with whatever subconscious influence had been triggered by his revelations, there was no telling how Crane might act when he awoke. He may come to and be bewildered by what he was doing in the infirmary cuffed to the bed, or he may have been changed into some evil creature out to kill them all at the Demon's implanted command.

Every revelation seemed to bring a new complication with it. Just once, he'd like to learn something without it leading to another crisis like a hydra spouting another three heads for each that was cut off. He didn't even know who he could trust any more. What if others on his staff had been exposed to the same gas? They could all have subliminal orders planted deep in their minds, ready to be implemented at any moment.

Dr. Tetch approached him and he put his musings aside. The neuroscientist looked quite upset. He and Jonathan were good friends and it was tough for him to see Crane like this. But if anyone could figure out what was done to him and how to fix it, it was Jervis.

"Any progress, doc?" It hurt to even say that much but he didn't have time to write everything down on the notepad he'd been given. Jervis frowned at him and then wagged a finger in a scolding manner.

"You're not supposed to be talking. Try not to do that again. I've done a complete scan of Jonathan's brain and taken blood and tissue samples. I'm still analyzing them but I think I've found some patterns in his brainwaves that may have been caused by this 'fear gas' of his. If so, I'll be able to tell whether anyone else has been exposed, although it will take quite a while to scan everyone."

Jack opened his mouth to speak but Tetch gave him a stern look and cut him off. "Yes, I'm sure you'd say to just focus on the senior staff but all it would take would be for one average police officer to put a bullet in your back because Wayne told him so. I will scan the senior staff first to rule them out.

Dr. Strange and I are working as fast as we can on this problem. What you need to do is get well and that means no talking! Can you guarantee me you won't talk, or at least no more than a word or two at a time?" Jack nodded reluctantly. "Good, Dr. Elliot is in charge so if you have any questions, write them to him. I'll be back to check on you later."

Jack settled back and tried not to fidget. He'd never been good at just sitting still. Jervis and Hugo, Jervis's second-in-command, didn't need his help in analyzing the brain scans, but there were so many other things that needed doing and quickly. He'd come to a very obvious conclusion after hearing Jonathan's story. They needed to take Wayne down and the sooner the better.

Frowning, he scribbled a message down and beckoned Dr. Thomas Elliot over. The chief medical officer glanced at the note and then looked at him questioningly.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea. You need to rest and avoid undue stress. But if you insist, I'll call them down here." He glared at the doctor to indicate that that was exactly what he wanted him to do and the man wisely backed off and went to do what Jack had asked. Some of the nurses got him into a wheelchair and brought him to an isolation room where they helped him into the bed and made sure he was comfortable.

It was perhaps twenty minutes later when his senior staff entered the room. The doctor left them alone as Jack had instructed. They all looked concerned so Jack wrote "I'm fine," on the notepad and held it up. Pam shook her head and held out a small flask to him.

"No, you're not fine. Drink this. It will make you feel better."

He took the flask and sniffed at its contents a little suspiciously. It smelled vaguely of honey and flowers. He downed it in one gulp. It soothed his throat and after swallowing a few times, he found he could speak without pain.

"Thanks, I was a little sick of writing everything down. I don't suppose you care to tell me what was in that?"

"Trade secret. It's only temporary so don't plan on making any long-winded speeches."

"In that case, I'll get right to the point. I brought you all down here because I think we need to step up the timetable. If the Demon could compromise Jonathan like that, who knows who else he might have gotten to? We need to act fast and strike out at him as soon as possible. I need to know whether we can."

There was silence as they all looked at each other for a moment. He watched the various emotions flit across their faces; hope, eagerness, uncertainty, even fear. Nigma was the first to speak.

"I think so. We have enough armor, weapons, and supplies to sustain an assault. I have blueprints of Wayne Manor and the surrounding grounds although there's no telling what sort of modifications he's made. I've done some searching on-line and I've been able to find some shipments of sophisticated technology and science equipment made about six years ago that I think went to Wayne. Their exact destination was hidden in a maze of false accounts but I was able to backtrack them to Wayne Enterprises."

"Six years ago? That's about a year after he came back from overseas, isn't it?" Nigma answered in the affirmative. Edward had printed a complete history of Bruce Wayne and given copies to all of them. After the death of his parents, the young Wayne had struggled through years of physical therapy to repair the damage from the bullet that had nicked his spine. Even today, he still walked with a slight limp.

There had been years of mental therapy as well as he tried to cope with the loss of his parents. Nigma had somehow obtained confidential psychiatric records from Wayne's therapists. Jack didn't bother to ask how he had gotten them. He was willing to bend the law in this case. The therapists had all described Wayne's rage and feelings of helplessness. In one session, he'd even broken down and cried, saying it was his father's fault, that he'd been too weak and afraid to stop the gunman. Then he'd glared at the therapist and said he was never going to be that way. He was never going to be weak or afraid again.

Bruce had had two guardians when he was younger, his butler Mr. Alfred Pennyworth, and Dr. Leslie Thompkins, who had comforted the young Bruce after his parent's death. But both of them had left him after he turned eighteen. There were rumors that he'd driven them away with his rage and outbursts but Jack hadn't talked to either of them to confirm that. He was afraid they might still have connections, despite the rumors, and would tip Wayne off if Jack contacted them. Later, after this was all over, he'd get their side of things for the official record.

Wayne had dropped out of several universities, usually after violent incidents including one where he allegedly threatened an ex-girlfriend and then stalked her for several months. The resulting restraining order had driven him from the school. He'd then left Gotham and gone overseas for years. Jack could find no record of his time over there and could only conclude he'd traveled under an assumed name. He'd returned to Gotham seven years ago and settled in as CEO of Wayne Enterprises. There had been nothing to connect him to the Bat-Demon until Francine's confession.

"My men are ready to go whenever you are, Commissioner." Bane said, a look of satisfaction on his face at the idea of actually seeing combat. Drury Walker also confirmed that all his pilots were ready to go and that all the helicopters were mechanically certified and had infrared detectors installed.

"Do you think we can mount an operation within two days?" They all looked startled at the short timetable but Nigma nodded.

"I think so; most of the plans are already in place. We'd just need to hash out the last minute details and then we'd be good to go."

"Why so soon, Commissioner? Do you know something we don't?" Harvey asked. He was threading a coin through his fingers, a nervous habit of his that had shown up more and more lately.

"I just don't think we should wait. Wayne has to know or suspect that we've found out a lot about his operation. The longer we wait, the more time he has to prepare his defenses. We need to go on the offensive and the sooner, the better."

"We can be ready in two days. But if you're that worried, why don't we just bomb Wayne's mansion from the air? Burn it all to ashes and be done with it." Lynns asked. He always did look for ways to use his pyrotechnical expertise.

"I did consider that option but I promised Dr. Langstrom we'd try to rescue her children and if they're inside, they'll be dead as well. Plus, there are still several missing people attributed to the demons that may be captive inside for all we know. I want to keep deaths to a minimum and that goes double for civilians. As much as I hate to say it, a full frontal assault is the best way. Which is not to say, we won't have some more subtle efforts underway as well. We can only hope that..."

Jack was cut off abruptly by Pam screaming and doubling over, clutching her head. She would have fallen if not for Harvey catching her in his arms. Her vines writhed around her like serpents as she convulsed. Jack nearly bolted out of the bed to help but some of the medical staff came running in at the sound of her screams and he let them try and handle it.

"What the hell is wrong, Pammy?" Harvey winced as one of the flailing vines clipped him across his back, making him stagger. Their wild motion was keeping anyone else from getting close but he had to endure it or drop her and flee which he wouldn't do.

"My babies! They're killing my babies! Make it stop! It hurts!" She sobbed uncontrollably, barely conscious.

"What the hell is she talking about?"

"I don't know." Nigma was frantically typing commands into his laptop and suddenly he froze and sucked in his breath as he stared at the transmission from the Nigma-bots. "Robinson Park is on fire. So is City Hall, the docks, and five other locations around the city, including the Clocktower."

Damn it all to hell. The Clocktower was one of their back-up stations. There was technology, equipment, and a small group of technicians present at all times. He'd thought it was a secret but he should have learned by now that nothing was hidden when it came to the Bat-Demon.

"Casualties?"

"The reports are still coming in. It's too early to say. The Gotham Fire Department are already on the scene of some of the fires but the fires are quite large and it will take time to put them out. Plus, there's not enough firefighters to go to all the locations. They'd be spread too thin."

"Are the demons attacking the firefighters?" Bane asked.

"No, but they're perched on other buildings watching them. I imagine that's quite unnerving."

The Gotham City firefighters were trained in self-defense by the GCPD. By Commissioner Napier's edict, every fire truck had a sharpshooter riding along to protect them from attacks from above. But they were also trained not to fire unless the demons made a direct assault. By simply watching, the Bat-Demons were probably making the firefighters more nervous which would be making their jobs harder. He had to hand it to Wayne. The lunatic knew how to wage a psychological war.

Pam gave a last wail and went limp in Harvey's arms, her vines collapsing as well. The medics hurried over to take her in the next room for an exam but Jack doubted there was anything they could do for her. The majority of the plants in Robinson Park were her own creations, changed and altered to act as a security system against intruders, especially from above.

He hadn't realized that she was so linked to them that she could feel their pain but apparently Wayne had unless this was just meant as simple revenge. Either way, it was a huge blow to his team. Poison Ivy was one of his strongest assets as well as a close friend. If she were unable to participate in the attack, he would have to change some of his plans.

"Tell the firefighters to make the Robinson Park fire a priority. We might have to move even sooner than I thought."

"Yes sir." His people trickled out to finalize plans. He barely had a chance to take a deep breath when Dr. Elliot entered the room.

"Ms. Isley is sleeping right now. We gave her a sedative but there's nothing more we can do to help her. But I thought you'd like to know that Dr. Crane is awake and he's asking for you."

Jack scrambled out of the bed, waving away the doctor's concerned hand. He didn't need the wheelchair. He needed to speak to Jonathan.

The main room was quiet. Dr. Crane's bed was isolated, free of any medical staff and only the cop standing guard by the bed was there as Jack approached. Dr. Crane turned his head to look as Jack approached. He stared at the bruises and his eyes glittered with tears before he turned away again. Jack sat down in the chair by his bed and motioned the guard to leave.

"How are you feeling, Jonathan?"

"I'm sorry Jack. I'm so, so sorry. I couldn't stop myself. It was like watching a movie of myself where I had no control over my actions." His thin shoulders shook and he refused to even look at Jack. Clearly he remembered everything. That would make this easier.

"I know it wasn't your fault. I don't blame you. You were Wayne's victim. I just want to ask you a few questions."

"Okay."

"How much do you actually remember of your captivity?"

"Almost everything but I couldn't talk about it. He made sure of that."

"Yes, you told me that during our previous...conversation. Is there anything useful you can tell me now that some of the mental blocks have been removed?"

"Not really. He controlled everything I saw, heard, or did. He was always very careful about what was revealed in front of me."

"All right. Do you know if he's implanted any subliminal commands in any of the staff?"

"Not that I know of. His brainwashing techniques took time. It wasn't instantaneous. Even with my 'fear gas' it couldn't be done. The gas only calms a subject down, takes away their fears, and makes them more suggestible. It still took days of mental conditioning and repeated doses of the gas for him to get to me."

Jack thought about that. It was unlikely that the staff had been affected if Jonathan was telling the truth. None of them had been missing for any long periods of time. But what if it had happened when one of them was on a supposed vacation? They didn't get much time off but it was possible that Wayne had abducted one of them during that time and conditioned their minds before returning them. It was unlikely but his paranoid mind had to consider every possibility.

Dr. Tetch's scans would help to rule out that scenario but there was still going to be nagging doubts in his mind until this was over. He shuddered inwardly at the thought of Harvey or Jervis suddenly turning on him like Jonathan had.

"That's good to know. Has he contacted you since he let you go? Were you reporting to him?"

"Yes. He called once a week and I'd give him information about your plans. He has a trigger word implanted in my head. He'd call up and speak it and I'd become his puppet again. I couldn't stop myself from telling him everything." Jonathan's voice was still shaky but his body language was calmer as he confessed. It seemed to make him feel better to tell Jack everything.

"What was the trigger word?"

"Scarecrow. It was his nickname for me. It only works when he says it in his Demon voice, though."

"I see." It explained a lot about how the Bat-Demon had always seemed to know about their plans beforehand. He'd long thought that there was a mole in the department. He'd even seriously considered the possibility that it was Jonathan but there'd never been any proof until now. Besides that, Crane hated the Bat-Demons so much there was no way he'd work with them willingly and his expertise had been too valuable to the team to exclude him without any evidence.

"Will his conditioning still work? If he called you right now and spoke the trigger word, would you tell him everything you know?" A horrible thought struck him. "Has he contacted you since we captured Francine? Does he know she's human or how much she's told us?"

"No. He only called me at home and I haven't been home since she was brought in. I haven't talked to him in a week. I think the trigger will still work. I was aware of it before and couldn't resist. The fact that I told you about it doesn't change the conditioning."

Jonathan rolled over now to face Jack. His face was pale and drawn, his eyes red-rimmed from crying. The fear was palpable in every line of his body.

"I can't be trusted, Commissioner. You shouldn't include me in any more meetings from now on. If he's desperate enough, he may still try to contact me here somehow."

"I understand. You'll get the help you need, Jonathan. After he's dead, you won't have anything more to worry about." He patted Crane's hand and saw the psychiatrist relax a bit. "There's just one more thing. Do you know who put the information about the Langstroms in the victim files?"

"No. It wasn't me." Jonathan looked a bit confused but he was telling the truth. At least that was one thing he couldn't be accused of doing.

"All right. Get some sleep now. If you remember anything else, anything useful, tell one of the doctors and they'll come get me." He rose to leave as Crane nodded. The guard came back as Jack left and resumed his station. Unwilling pawn or not, he was still a security risk as much as Francine was and there would be a guard with him at all times.

The altered files still bothered him. Everything else could be explained in some way but that was still an unknown. Had the Langstroms broken through their own conditioning long enough to send the message?

Could it have been Wayne himself, some part of his sick game? If it was a test to see how long before it was noticed, they'd all failed miserably. And whoever had done it, had they changed any other files as well? Well, he knew where to get some answers. He just hoped Francine was awake because he wasn't in the mood to wait. One way or another, this all had to end and sooner rather than later. Time was running out.

AN: Dr. Thomas Elliot is the villain known as Hush in the comics.


	10. Part 10, TruthTelling

Part 10, Truth-Telling

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"In a dark time, the eye begins to see

I meet my shadow in the deepening shade...

What's Madness but nobility of soul

At odds with circumstances? The day's on fire."

"In a Dark Time,"

Theodore Roethke

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Francine was alert and awake when Jack walked in. She was chatting amiably with a nurse who was taking her vitals as though they were old friends. Both of them looked up with a smile that suddenly died when they saw the look on his scarred face. The nurse excused herself and hurried out. The guards standing on either side of the bed made an effort to stare straight ahead and ignore any unfolding drama in the room.

"Is there a problem, Commissioner Napier?" She looked wary and a touch confused as he simply stood there and stared at her, studying every line of her face. The silence strained her nerves until he finally deigned to answer.

"I'm wondering how much of the demon is still in you and what to do about it. And I'm thinking that drastic measures are needed."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Has something happened? The demon is gone. I have no desire for it to return."

"Oh really, even if it's the only way to ensure your children's safety?"

"What do you mean? Is that some kind of a threat?" She tugged on the straps and glared at him in utter fury. "I already told you that our deal was based on you keeping my children safe. Are you going back on your word?"

"Not at all. It simply occurred to me that you've said several times that Wayne is a mad genius who's planned for every possible scenario. If that's true, then he must have planned for the possibility of one of his followers being captured and interrogated.

Everything you told me can't be taken at face value. You can't be trusted. But I need real answers and time is short. So we're going to talk again but on my terms."

He pulled a vial from his pocket and took a sterile needle from the tray by her bed. Pam had had the foresight to give him two doses before he'd gone to visit Jonathan. She'd wanted him to interrogate Francine as well. He'd objected at the time, wanting to trust the former demon, but trust was a luxury he couldn't afford any longer. Francine would tell him everything he wanted to know and only then could he be sure of his plan of action.

"What is that? What are you doing?" There was the beginning of panic in her voice and eyes but he paid no mind as he injected the content of the vial into her I.V.

She began to thrash against the restraints, wanting to get away from whatever he was introducing into her system. The two guards rushed over to pin her down but Jack just watched dispassionately. Was she scared because of what she might say or was it merely the result of the events of the past few days catching up with her?

The transformation had been traumatic both mentally and physically and he doubted she had fully come to grips with her changed status. He hoped it was just a panic attack at this new and confusing behavior on his part but the cynical side of his personality assumed she was hiding something. They'd soon find out.

The doctors ran in to find out what was going on but the guards had her pinned and immobile now and all they could do was check that her IV needle and monitor attachments hadn't been pulled out in the fight.

"Commissioner, what did you give her?" Dr. Elliot held up the used syringe with an accusing stare.

"A truth serum that Pam gave me before the incident with Jonathan. It won't harm her. She'll just be compelled to answer my questions honestly."

"And how do you know if it will react with the other medications we have her on?" Actually, the thought hadn't even occurred to Jack. But it didn't matter. She'd give him what he needed, even if it killed her.

"I don't. Could you go fetch Chief Nygma for me? I'd like him to be present while I interrogate the prisoner." Dr. Elliot looked unhappy at Jack's interference with his patient but there was little he could do. Jack's word was law when it came to dealing with the Bat-Demons. He left to go find Eddie.

By the time Nygma entered the room, Francine had stopped thrashing but she was still breathing in panicked little gasps. The guards had moved back but were on alert in case she acted up again. Eddie looked at Francine and then him. He couldn't completely hide the nervous look on his face. Jack's actions were harsh and unusual.

"What's going on, boss?"

"Just a little interrogation, chief. I'd like you to sit in on it. If you think of any questions you'd like to have answered, now would be the time."

"What do you mean?"

"Thanks to Pam, Francine's going to answer all of our questions truthfully. We're going to get some answers and then we'll go from there. So, is there anything you need to know?"

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Eddie looked doubtful as he took a seat next to Jack.

"It worked with Jonathan and she's restrained so she won't be able to attack us as he did."

"Good to know. Is the drug working right now?" Jack looked at Francine. Her eyes had that slight glazed look that Jonathan had when the drug reached his system but she was on other medications as well. They'd have to test it.

"Francine, can you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Good, we're going to ask you a few questions and I want honest answers. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand." She was reacting just as Jonathan had. Her voice was clear while her eyes held the same faraway look that Crane had had during his interrogation.

"Are you still loyal to Bruce Wayne?" He figured that was the easiest thing to ask. Her answer would help tailor his whole line of questioning. A slight tremor crossed her face as though she were resisting answering him.

"I hate him for what he did to my family but my loyalty is with Kirk and my children. I will do whatever is necessary to protect them."

"So you would lie to me to protect them?"

"Yes."

"Have you lied to me?" Again there was that slight hesitation.

"Yes, I've lied to you."

"What specifically have you lied about?"

"When I said that I was just a pawn to Wayne, I was lying. He relies on Kirk and I to help him with his research. He's always looking for ways to improve and modify the serum. I'm one of his most important tools.

And when I said I had no control over my actions, I wasn't telling the whole truth. The animal part was dominant but Wayne didn't brainwash Kirk or I like he did the others. He found it more amusing to keep us loyal through our children. So I was able to find some small ways of rebelling against him."

"Like what?"

"I hacked into the GCPD's files and put Kirk and I in as victims of the Bat-Demon. I thought someone might notice and connect our disappearance to the demon but it didn't work. And I resisted killing some of the people I had the opportunity to kill.

Sometimes I couldn't help it, their blood called to me. It tasted so good when I killed and fed but I hated myself every time. So I tried to simply scare people whenever I could. I wasn't going to kill the girl that Isley made as bait. I was trying to install fear in her so she'd know enough to hide from us in the future."

Jack would never have believed her if she wasn't under the influence of the truth serum. But it made sense that she was the one who had added the files to the list of victims. At least that mystery was solved.

"So if you're more important than you let on, will Wayne try to rescue you?"

"He doesn't care about me as an individual. He's only worried about what knowledge you might gain from me. If he can't rescue me, he'll try to have me killed."

"How? Does he have other spies besides Dr. Crane?"

"One other but I don't know who it is. He kept that a secret from all of us. He doesn't have any other informants because he was worried they might be found out. He's grown more and more paranoid over the years. I think part of him wants to reveal his identity, wants to flout his genius for the world to see. But mostly he wants to remain hidden. Every time you've come anywhere close to figuring out something about the demons, he'd do something to misdirect you."

"What can you tell us about his defenses? Every detail will help."

Eddie recorded everything she said as she rattled off a long list of built-in traps, everything from laser sensors to poison darts attached to pressure-sensitive tiles in the main foyer of Wayne Manor. She listed so many traps and security measures that Jack and Eddie exchanged a look of disbelief. Bruce Wayne must be the most paranoid and devious bastard on the face of the planet.

"Do you know where your children are kept? Will he use them as shields if we attack?" Jack asked once she'd finished the long list.

"They're always in the caves under his Manor. He doesn't let them go anywhere unless he's with him. He might use Rebecca as a shield but not Aaron. He thinks that even if he were killed, Aaron will carry on his work once he's older. He won't risk his protégé."

"That's good to know. How many auxiliary lairs does he have and where are they?" Yet again, she gave a long list of various hideouts and dives where the bat-demons roosted during the day. Apparently, Wayne didn't want all of his creations in one location. That way, if they were attacked and killed at one place, the others would be untouched. It was going to be hard to check all of them but he would figure something out.

The interrogation continued for another twenty minutes. Jack and Eddie grilled Francine on every topic they could think of that might help in the coming battle. She didn't even resist anymore but simply answered their every question mechanically.

When they were done, Jack was satisfied that Francine was not a threat. He was already making changes in his head to his attack plans based on what Francine had told them. It should work. There was no way to account for every variable, of course. This second operative she'd mentioned was particularly worrisome. But he was confident that the Bat-Demon could be taken down. It was just a matter of strategy and numbers.

"I still can't believe you did that." Jack and Eddie turned to look at Dr. Elliot as he came back into the room. "You gave an unknown, untested drug to one of my patients without consulting me. What if it interacted with the other drugs in her system? Did you even consider the possibility of side effects? You could have killed her!"

"Sometimes you have to take chances to get results, doctor. I didn't need your permission. You may be in charge of the infirmary but my jurisdiction supercedes yours. Anyway, she's fine and the drug will wear off soon enough."

He just glared at Jack and went to check Francine's vitals. Thomas could be arrogant and high-handed but he was an excellent doctor. Jack couldn't fault him for worrying about his patient. He would just have to accept that the Commissioner's actions had been for the greater good.

"Say doc, didn't you go to school with Bruce Wayne? According to my files, the two of you were best friends back in the day." Eddie's tone was casual but his eyes were intent. Elliot didn't bother to turn around.

"Bruce and I had a falling-out. I haven't talked to him in years and I'm as shocked as anyone else to hear that he's the Bat-Demon. If you want to know anything else, you'll have to accuse me of something and call for a formal hearing. Otherwise, I'm done talking."

Jack motioned for Eddie to follow him and they walked out of the infirmary and back to Jack's office. He closed the door and faced Nygma squarely.

"Do you suspect Dr. Elliot of something? I don't want unfounded accusations being spread around. Some of us are paranoid enough to act on them."

"I was just asking because I thought he might have some insight into Wayne's psyche. They were very close as children. But I don't think he's willing to talk about it so it's pointless."

"Harvey went to school with him too. Why don't you talk to him?"

"I already did. He didn't have any useful insights. He just said that he tried to be friendly towards Wayne and was rebuffed. Harvey thought of him as an arrogant jerk but he never suspected anything. Wayne is something of an enigma. Apparently, he was skilled at hiding his real self from everyone."

"Well, that's obvious. But I ask again, did you have a reason to rile Dr. Elliot like that? It seemed unnecessary."

"What Francine said about there being another spy started me thinking. Elliot has had extensive contact with Wayne. He says he hasn't seen him in years but that could be a lie. And his position as a physician would allow him access to all of us if Wayne wanted to drug us or even kill us. It makes sense."

"Maybe but it's too easy. I don't think Bruce would use such an obvious suspect. I think he would go with someone we wouldn't suspect. I never would have thought that Jonathan was working for him although it was involuntary. I don't think it's Dr. Eliot."

"Yes, but who then? This is a critical time, Jack. We can't risk anyone turning on us."

"There's no way of knowing for sure. Have you intercepted any suspicious outgoing communications?"

"No, and no incoming ones either. This is really bothering me. We need to know everything before we act but we can't wait much longer either." Eddie looked flustered. He hated not knowing something but there was no way to be sure who the other spy was.

Odds were, it was someone who had access to the higher-ups as opposed to just a desk jockey. The spy would be of no use to Wayne if he or she didn't know the details of what was going on. That meant it was likely one of the senior staff or their aides. Jack hated suspecting any of them but he knew there was a spy and logic dictated it was one of them.

But how could they figure it out within the next day? He couldn't drug his whole staff and interrogate them, even if Pam were up to making more of the truth serum. If he couldn't figure it out, he'd just have to go into battle not knowing who he could trust at his back. It was a disturbing thought.

There was something he could try. His plan had been for each of his lieutenants to wield their teams on their individual missions. But if he instituted a buddy system, pairing each team leader with another, they could keep an eye on each other. He needed to tell them about the spy anyway. It was unfortunate that he would need them to be suspicious of each other but it was the best he could come up with on such short notice.

A knock on the door interrupted his line of thought and Harvey entered. His second-in-command nodded at Eddie.

"Thought you'd like to know that the fires are all out, boss. There's some significant damages, especially at the Clocktower, but no deaths."

"That's good, Harvey. He's still testing us. Any change in Pam's condition?"

"Dr. Eliot said she's resting more comfortably but she's still unconscious. I've talked to all the department heads and they all say they're as prepared as they're ever going to be for this fight."

"They're all good people. I know I can count on them to do their job properly. But there's something you should know." He told Harvey about his conversation with Francine and her revelation that Wayne had another spy somewhere in the ranks. Harvey looked aghast.

"It's not me and I can't imagine any of the others turning on us. We all have our reasons to hate the Bat-Demon."

"So did Jonathan. Whoever it is may be brain-washed rather than a willing mole. But it still holds that I don't have time to figure out who it is. That's why I'm going to tell everyone about it and tell them to keep an eye on each other. No one should be allowed to go off on their own once the battle begins. It will be yet another detail for us to worry about but it's the only option."

"Well, whatever you decide to do, we're ready."

He certainly hoped so because there was no more time to prepare. Tomorrow was going to be the beginning of the end for Wayne. Jack was ready. The Bat-Demon's fall couldn't come soon enough.


	11. Part 11, Second Interlude

Second Interlude

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"If I think again of this place

And of People not wholly commendable

Of no immediate kin or kindness

But some of peculiar genius

All touched by a common genius

United in the strife which divided them."

"Little Giddling(III)"

T.S. Eliot

"This is a map of the grounds. I've been able to extrapolate the rough size and location from geologic records. It extends below the Manor and runs behind and underneath. There are at least two access tunnels leading out as well as the tunnel in the Manor itself. I've found some natural channels that may lead to the main cave but I can't say for sure."

"That's good Eddie. We have enough men to use all those access points and cut him off. What about the other lairs?"

"Francine identified five major and six minor locations where the Demons sometimes roost. Four of those are isolated enough that we could secure them without a fuss. The other seven are all within civilian areas. Hopefully we can secure those without any impact on the people and buildings nearby. The Francis St. location is the most troublesome. There's an apartment building on either side. If it comes down to a firefight, a lot of people are going to put in danger."

"If we evacuate those buildings, we'll tip him off. Hopefully we won't find a fight at any of these lairs but if he realizes what's going on, he won't hesitate to put civilians in danger."

"We might be able to evacuate certain places discreetly. It's going to be the middle of the day so there shouldn't be too many people present. We could have the fire alarms go off or tell everyone there's a gas leak."

"That might work. What about our air support?"

"We're all ready to go. The choppers are all equipped with the new infrared scanners so we can scout the buildings out from the air."

"That's good. We'll be able to secure the empty lairs and prevent them from fleeing to them if they escape. Now what about your new weapons, Eddie?"

"I've got some interesting toys that might come in handy although they're still prototypes. There's a non-lethal stunner and a heat-seeking dart that can be set for the demons body temperature. Also, Jervis and I came up with a sort of sonic emitter that should disorient Wayne's signal. I've got a whole fleet of robots ready for reconnaissance. We can send then out ahead to find any booby traps."

"That's good. We need everyone mobilized for this. Are the medical units ready, Dr. Elliot?"

"Yes, there are enough of us to divide among each team. We'll be ready for whatever happens. But I don't like your idea of arming my doctors. We're healers not soldiers."

"Everyone will be armed. You've all had the training. You know how to handle a firearm. I don't expect that most of the docs will have to use it but I'm not going to leave anyone vulnerable to attack. All of the medics will be behind the officers but if it comes down to it, you will be expected to act as a defense. If any of your doctors have a problem with it, they should opt out now. I won't tolerate them getting out into the action and backing down from a fight."

"All of my medics will do their duty, including me. I just want to stress that I dislike the use of firearms. Call it an objective observation if you like but don't disparage the bravery of my doctors."

"Your objection is noted. I know the doctors are just as committed as the rest of us. I just don't have time to listen to negative opinions right now. Everything is in place and all of you know what to do. Are there any questions?"

"Yes, you don't think you're keeping me out of this, do you?" All of them turned to Pam where she sat in the corner. She looked tired and her skin was paler than usual but there was an angry tone in her voice at being ignored.

"Pam, you're still not recovered. I do expect you to play a role but I can't have you on the front lines. It's too risky."

"That's bull Jack. I'm one of the few metas you have on your side and I'm not going to sit back and let everyone else cover for me. I'm tired but that's it. I will be in the assault team and there's nothing you can say that will stop me." Pam got to her feet to try and make her point but her knees wobbled and she had to grab the edge of the chair to keep from falling. Her vines wrapped around her, steadying her until she could stand upright again.

"Pam, I would love to have you there but I need to make sure you're at full strength and that simply isn't true. You can direct your plants from the secondary positions just as easily. You'll still be within sight of the Manor but I can't spare any men to guard you in the forward teams."

"As if I need some man to protect me! I want to take the bastard down for Harley's sake. If you want me to stay back a bit, fine, but I can take care of myself and I can have my vines carry me. I won't be a burden."

Jack sighed. He knew how stubborn she was and she would never back down. Not for something as important as revenge. He could allow her to follow on the heels of the assault teams and that was the best compromise for both of them.

"All right. You'll be there. I expect you to tear Wayne Manor down to the ground. You realize some of your plants will likely be destroyed as they trigger the defenses, right?"

"I'm going to use ones I'm not mentally connected to and their deaths will be for an important cause. I can deal with it."

"Good. Now is there anything else?"

"Is there anything I can do?"

Jack stopped and stared at Mayor Cobblepot who had been so quiet that he'd almost forgotten the man was there. His presence at the meeting was a mere formality and meant to make him feel more important then he actually was. Still, if he felt the need to be helpful for once, Jack was grateful. He needed all the help he could get even Ozzie's.

"I need you to stay here and help Dr. Tetch monitor communications. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Of course. I'm not incompetent." Cobblepot looked indignant again which was his favored expression but Jack just ignored it. He didn't have time to deal with hurt feelings today.

The next hour was spent finalizing the attack plans and going over every last detail. His forces would be split into multiple teams. A small team would be sent to secure each of the extra lairs. Each team was equipped with a gun equipped to shoot tranquilizer darts. Except that instead of tranquilizers, each dart contained Tetch's reversal formula. The troops were ordered to shoot to kill if necessary but Jack had to at least try to save some of the Demons who had been changed against their will.

While those buildings were being secured, Harvey would head to the Wayne Corporation headquarters downtown with his own team. It would be the middle of the day and Bruce Wayne should be in the building. Harvey carried a warrant of arrest for Wayne and hopefully they would be able to take him into custody without incident.

The main team, led by Jack, would head to Wayne Manor and take it apart piece by piece to expose Wayne's secret and rescue the children. It was an ambitious multi-pronged attack that should enable them to end the reign of the Bat-Demons once and for all.

The only drawback was that it would leave police headquarters with only a skeleton crew. If Wayne somehow found out about his plans, it would be easy enough to attack the building and then Harley, Tetch, Francine, and the others left behind would be in trouble. There were automated defenses of course, but he wouldn't put it past Wayne to know how to get around them. He just had to hope that the unknown informant had no way of communicating with him. All phone lines and computers were on lockdown and being monitored by Nigma and his crew. The element of surprise was crucial and without it, it might be a bloodbath on both sides.

He dismissed everyone from the room to get everything ready and then went to his office window and stared out at his city again. How many of his friends might not come back from this? How many more people would have to die to defeat the monster that hid behind Wayne's foppish smile?

Wayne's victims numbered in the thousands. There was nothing the Bat-Demon wouldn't do. Murder, rape, arson, robbery, and a hundred other crimes had all been committed by the creature who had seemed so supernatural in his pure evil. Knowing it had actually been Bruce Wayne all along reminded Jack that humans could be just as evil as any supernatural creature.

Where the Demon had thrived on chaos, Jack had prospered on order and discipline. His determination to overcome his freakish appearance had gotten him where he was today. But in this final battle that was approaching in mere hours, would it be order that emerged from the aftermath or chaos? Could he face his literal demon and come through with his soul intact? He might well have to give an order during the battle that would result in the death of innocents or one of his closest friends. Jack's only hope was that if it came down to such a decision, he could live with himself afterwards. Because that might be the Demon's final victory over him if he fell apart. Even a good man could go insane if he went through the wrong terrible situation. Wayne was proof of that.

The mission would begin in four hours at exactly noon. If everything went well, then the Demons would be finished before sundown. He wondered how long it would take Gothamites to feel safe venturing outside at night again. Probably, even years from now, there would be those who would give a nervous glance at the sky now and then but the people of this city were resilient.

Jack didn't want to think too far ahead. He'd always found that it was best to deal with one problem at a time but he had to spare a thought for what he'd do after the demons had been stopped. He was definitely planning to take a nice vacation with Harley. But afterwards, did he want to stay here in Gotham? Despite his love for his city, there were so many bad memories here and it might be healthier for Harley to have a permanent change of scenery.

He'd spent the past five years putting all of his physical and mental strength towards defeating the demons. His job as Commissioner would be a lot easier once that was accomplished but would he be content to sit behind his desk and push papers all day?

Jack shook his head and dismissed that line of thinking. He shouldn't worry about that now. Who knew if he would even survive the day? Gotham would endure with or without him. That was the only thing he could count on.


	12. Part 12, Assault on Wayne Manor

Disclaimer: I still own nothing.

"The World turns and the world changes

But one thing does not change

In all of my years, one thing does not change

However you disguise it, this thing does not change

The perpetual struggle of Good and Evil."

"The Rock (Chorus)"

T.S. Eliot

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

It was a hot day in Gotham and the blue skies overhead were unbroken by any clouds. Jack wiped the sweat from his brow as he got out of the car at the gate to Wayne Manor. Despite the heat, he was glad for the clear weather. It would be easier to visually track the demons if they took flight during any of the operations.

The SWAT team was ready to go in but Eddie and Pam needed to do their part first. Eddie was already setting up an invention of his that should shut down at least some of the electronic defenses within the mansion. He got it ready and then flipped the switch without preamble. There was a slight crackling sound but nothing reacted overtly.

One of Pam's mutated plants ripped the gate from its hinges and Jack's team poured onto the grounds taking up a defensive perimeter around the front half of the house. Poison Ivy had brought along her own small army of plant creations and they moved past the men to take down the house. Pam stood with Jack and Eddie as they watched the plants begin to crawl over the stately manor.

The first security measures kicked in as the plants tore at the roof. Thin jets of flame shot out from hidden vents and some of Pam's creations shrieked as they burned. Pam looked pissed but she wasn't in pain. She wasn't mentally connected to these plants. There were so many of them that the fire couldn't reach them all and the roof and gables were ripped off and thrown behind the manor fairly quickly.

When they began on the walls, there was a deep rumbling sound from within the house and then panels opened up at random sites and hoses emerged that sprayed the plant creatures with heated steam. Many of them fell back but vine-like limbs wrapped themselves around the hoses and tore them free of the house, ending the threat.

Everything was happening as he'd anticipated. The house was bound to be protected by layers of traps and the more they destroyed, the more Wayne's defenses would kick in. The men were fidgeting a bit as they were used to direct action rather than sitting back and waiting for others but they knew this was the safest way.

The next wave of security came in the form of the ground under their feet rumbling which threw several off-balance officers onto their backs. Thin wires erupted from the grass all around the building and began crackling with electricity as they flailed about in random patterns. The swat team was forced to fall back to stay out of their range.

"Don't get any closer until the house is demolished. Let the plants do their job." The men obeyed reluctantly. It must be galling for them to take a back seat to mutated weeds but Jack was trying to keep them safe. There was no way of predicting how many layers of defense Wayne had installed around the manor.

"Commissioner, over here." He took his eyes off of the bizarre spectacle in front of him to see Nigma motioning him over. His security chief had two laptops open on a small folding table in the shelter of the SWAT team vans. Various machines and instruments were laid out around him and a small generator sat under the table, powering many of the devices. Jack walked back over to see what else was going on.

"I have three of the drones inside the cave system investigating the passages I found. One ran into a dead end and is backtracking right now. One seems to be heading away from the Manor but the third just found something very interesting."

Eddie angled the nearest laptop screen towards Jack as he reached the table. The slightly static image on the screen showed a large, dark space just ahead of the sensors. It was impossible to see anything recognizable on the screen but it seemed likely that this was part of the infamous Bat Cave.

"How far away is this image?"

"It's about half-a-mile behind the manor. I don't know if this is the main cave or not but it's definitely promising."

"Can you get a clearer picture of what's down there?"

"The probe has a light I can turn on but that would alert anyone who's down there to its presence. I can try infrared though." Eddie hit a button on one of the instruments and the image changed. Instead of the shadowy images, it showed pools of blue, green, and red.

"I think that moving mass of red on the ceiling are bats. There's no sign of any humans or demons but I'm going to instruct the probe to move further in."

The probe slowly began to move forward and the perspective changed as the robot moved further into the cave. Numbers flashed on the side of the screen as the probe measured the temperature, air quality, and dimension of the area around it.

For several minutes it trundled forward as the area around it expanded into a larger space. Jack and Eddie studied the images on the screen, trying to decipher them. Straight ahead was a large, rectangular mass that was clearly artificial. It gave off heat but not much, making it more of an outline than a clear image.

"I think that's a computer or at least something electrical. The output is consistent with a computer system. This has to be it."

The robot was programmed to respond to movement. Its view turned as a small, glowing outline suddenly hurled towards it. It was moving too fast for Jack to get a clear picture but there seemed to be wings and claws in the mix. The microphone picked up the sound of growling and panting as the robot was rocked by repeated blows. The screen went black and then the signal died completely.

"What the hell was that?"

"Judging from the size, I'd say that's probably Aaron Langstrom. Apparently, he's not a fan of robots."

"At least we know he's down there. Did you get enough readings to pinpoint his location?"

"He's roughly a quarter-mile away from the house straight back. But there's a whole maze of tunnels down there. He could go just about anywhere before we reach him. I'm sending the other two drones in that direction. Maybe we can track him somehow."

"Good idea, Eddie." Jack glanced up at the manor to see that the vines had dismantled more of the walls. Furniture was being thrown out to land at the back and sides of the grounds. It was going to be quite a mess when they were done.

It would take some time for the drones to reach the area where the other one had been destroyed so Jack headed back to his team. He'd reached Pam's side when his cell went off. The caller ID told him it was Harvey.

"Dent? Please tell me you have good news for me."

"I'm afraid not, Commissioner. We were able to execute the search warrant and obtain entry to Wayne's office but he was gone. His secretary claimed he was in there ten minutes before and he never left. Supposedly, the only way out was past her desk but he must have had some sort of secret passage that allowed him to escape."

"Damn it. Have you searched the building?" Capturing Bruce Wayne was a central part of his plan. With the head Demon in custody, the others might be easier to subdue. How had he known they were coming?

"We've got the building locked down and my men are doing a floor-by-floor search but I have the feeling he's already left. I have one of the techs checking his office for any sort of escape route but so far nothing. They're checking his phone records too to see if he got any calls from his informant."

"All right Harvey, keep me informed if you learn anything new." He hung up and then had to resist the urge to throw the phone away from him in a sudden fit of rage. Wayne was one step ahead of him again.

Where could he have gone? They had all the sites Francine had listed under guard but it was highly possible that he had other bolt holes she knew nothing about. The only thing Jack was certain of was that he hadn't left the city. Wayne would want revenge for these attacks and he wouldn't leave unless he got back at Napier.

Until he made a move or someone sighted him, Jack would just have to go through with the rest of his plan. It would still hinder Wayne to lose most of his base of operations and as many of his followers as they could find. Once they were done with that, he would make a formal announcement to the press about the Bat-Demon's true identity. He would be the most wanted man in Gotham and there would be nowhere for him to hide.

As the vines started tearing at the next floor, more hidden vents opened but this time they shot out some sort of greenish gas that wafted toward the assembled police officers. The vines were unaffected but the men had to hurry to put on gas masks. Eddie and Jack did the same although Pam merely sneered. She was immune to all known poisons and toxins and indeed the gas swirled around her with no apparent ill effects.

One of the men on Jack's left hadn't donned his mask in time or perhaps hadn't put it on correctly because as the gas swirled around him, he began to shriek and collapsed to the ground. Eddie was using some sort of large fan to dissipate the gas faster as two of the men dragged their afflicted comrade over to the waiting medics.

The man was writhing and screaming about spiders and the medics had to strap him down and sedate him before they could examine him properly. Jack grimaced as he realized this must be some form of the fear gas Jonathan had helped create. It was certainly effective. He was just glad it wasn't absorbed though the skin or they'd all be in trouble.

His phone rang again and he picked it up to hear Bane's report. The muscular man at least had some good news. His team had secured three of the hideouts. They'd all proved empty but they'd found signs at one of them that it had been inhabited recently, probably in the last week. Jack told him to keep up the good work and hung up. Everything seemed to be taking much longer than he'd planned but he knew it was just nerves.

His phone rang again and he glanced at the caller I.D. before answering. Stirk's soft voice sounded a little strained over the line.

"Sir, one of the buildings we were sent to investigate was empty but the one at the docks has two bat-demons inside. We've confirmed this with the infrared feed from the helicopter and we have the building surrounded. My team is about to move in."

"Okay, I'll have Nigma patch you through." Eddie nodded and typed in commands on the other laptop. Each of the teams had one of his drones with them so Jack could see what was going on at any given time. The image from Stirk's location showed the outside of a run-down warehouse. The paint was peeling and it looked as though it had been abandoned for years. One of the helicopters hovered over the building but not too close. The demons had been known to attack small aircraft before.

On Stirk's signal, the officers crouched by the side door kicked it in and entered. Police swarmed into the building and all Jack could hear was pounding feet and shouts as the officers headed towards the demons. He hated not knowing what was going on but there were too many sites around the city and he couldn't be everywhere.

The shouts escalated and he heard gunfire. Tension made him grip the edge of the table to prevent his need to pace. He needed to remain still and focus on the images. The drone panned up and he caught his breath at the sight of a winged creature taking flight from an upper window. Gunfire erupted from above and below and the creature dropped with a shriek. There were several minutes of confusion before Stirk called him back.

"Sir, we got both of them. Those electronic signalers really seemed to disorient them. One is dead but we managed to hit the other with Dr. Tetch's reversal formula. She's unconscious but human. The other one is male but still in bat form so we don't have a positive I.D. But the woman matches the description of Barbara Gordon."

Jack had hoped for a moment that he was going to say Selina Kyle but reclaiming any of Wayne's victims was a victory. And it was good to know that Eddie's sonic disruptors were working. Hopefully, they could turn more of the demons without having to kill them but his crew would do whatever it took to stop them once and for all.

The plants had begun to tear at the first floor when the ground around the manor erupted, throwing the officers and Jack off their feet. Pam kept her balance with the help of her vines but Eddie was forced to grab at his laptops to prevent them from being thrown to the ground. A swarm of small, mechanical bats poured out of hidden, underground vents and attacked the men.

Jack tried to sweep the bats away but they swarmed everywhere, biting and clawing at any available spot with sharp, steel claws and fangs. He was wearing the same protective gear as the SWAT officials but his face was bare and the cloth on his arms and legs were thin enough for them to get through.

There was a high-pitched whining noise and then all of the bats dropped to the ground, twitching but defeated. Jack spat blood from a cut lip and looked over towards Eddie. Chief Nigma was sporting several bloody scratches on his face and hands but it was the electronic scrambler in his hands that had ended the robo-bats attack. He really had prepared for everything.

The Commissioner got to his feet and looked around. The men were picking themselves up as well but they looked a little shaky. How many more defense layers did Wayne have installed under their very feet? Francine had told them about some of them but it was guaranteed that even she hadn't known about everything. For all they knew, the ground could open up next and swallow them whole.

Jack assessed his own condition. He was bleeding from several cuts but none of them were deep. He could feel bruises forming on his face and arms from where the bats wings had struck him but none of them were serious enough to warrant medical attention. The rest of the officers had similar minor wounds. Only Pam was untouched.

"Jack. I've got something." He turned back to Eddie who was dabbing at his bleeding cuts with one hand while he tapped commands on the nearest laptop with the other. Jack went back to his side to see what was going on. The image on the screen was color this time and lit up. It clearly showed the inside of a large cave but there were machines and equipment placed around the interior.

"I found a shortcut and managed to get one of the 'bots back into the cave where we saw Aaron Langstrom. If there's anyone else down there, they'll know we're here by now so there's no point in remaining hidden."

The powerful searchlight illuminated the secrets of Wayne's hidden lair. There was a bank of computers along one wall, all of which seemed to be displaying a different image or running a different program. There were long cabinets filled with rows of chemicals and drugs of every kind, neatly labeled and arranged by type. Medical supplies, distillation equipment, explosives, armor; the cave was a treasure trove of supplies.

"He looks like he was planning for Armageddon down there." Jack shook his head. Bruce Wayne had had years to plan for every eventuality and he'd put that time to good use. But Jack had a whole team of geniuses on his side and enough manpower to overwhelm the demons now that he knew who and where they were. One of the Bat-Demons main advantages had been their ability to strike quickly at random and then disappear into the shadows and now that would be much harder for them.

The robot turned again and both men jumped a little as the face of a Bat-demon filled the screen. It was obviously an adult so not Aaron which meant there were more of them down there. It no made no move to react, only hissed a little as it studied the drone.

Nigma made the drone back up just a little but the demon still didn't react. They could tell it was male now but that was it. Whoever he was, he wasn't Bruce Wayne, being smaller and lighter in color but all of the hybrid bat-men and women were dangerous. Why was this one down in the cave when Francine had told them that the lesser demons rarely stayed there? Wayne preferred to keep his forces scattered and usually communicated with them through indirect means to keep them from being spotted in the vicinity of the manor. A sudden thought struck him.

"Eddie, can we transmit sound over the drone? Can we communicate with him?"

"Yes, but what makes you think he'll listen?"

"I think I know who he is and I want to try and make a deal with him like we did with his wife." Eddie's eyes widened as he realized what Jack was implying and he rushed to open a channel to the drone. Once open, he handed a small microphone to Jack.

"Dr. Kirk Langstrom? Is that you? This is Gotham Commissioner Jack Napier. We rescued your wife several days ago ad we're here to rescue you and your children as well. We can reverse the bat mutation if you let us. I'd like to ask you to bring the children out and surrender peacefully. You won't be harmed. Do you understand me?"

The hybrid cocked his head to one side and seemed to be considering Jack's words. He came closer to the drone and crouched down next to it.

"You lie. There is no escape. There is no rescue." His voice was raspy and distorted like Francine's had been when she was still transformed, but it was understandable.

"I swear that I'm not lying. We know that Bruce Wayne is the head demon. We know that he kidnapped you and Francine and forced you to use your knowledge to create the drug that causes the transformation. Francine told us everything in exchange for the safety of you and your children, Aaron and Rebecca. We know this is all Wayne's doing and we want him to pay for his crimes. Come out and we can help each other."

"Francine is...unhurt? He told me she was dead." There was a wary tone in Langstrom's voice but Jack thought he detected hope in it as well.

"She's definitely not dead. We haven't hurt her and she's human again. You can see her real soon if you just come out."

There was a long pause and Jack suppressed the urge to snap at Langstrom to hurry up and decide. It wasn't that hard of a decision. Langstrom had moved out of visual range and all they could hear was the rustle of his wings brushing the floor and the panting sounds of his breath. Just when Jack was beginning to think he wasn't going to cooperate, Langstrom returned and bent down so that his frightening visage filled the screen.

"I will come out with my daughter. My son has fled into the tunnels. He will not listen to me. If everything Wayne has said about your integrity is true, you will not shoot me and certainly not a child."

It was a start. Once they'd cleared away the remains of the manor, they could help Langstrom find his son in the tunnels but at least he and Rebecca would be safe. He ordered the officers not to shoot and waited for Langstrom to emerge.

It was almost twenty minutes before the bat-demon appeared in the sky from behind the house. His broad wings flapped hard as he sailed past the vines and approached Jack's position. There was an instinctive moment of panic at the sight of the hybrid up close but he ignored it. The backdraft from powerful wings ruffled Jack's hair as Kirk landed about ten feet away in the grass.

Several of the officers had their guns pointed in Langstrom's direction despite Jack's orders. He let it go because there was a slight chance that this was a trick. Clutched in Kirk's arms was a girl who looked about five years old. She was thin, pale and wide-eyed as she stared at the clown-like man in front of her. Jack did his best to look benign.

"Hello, Dr. Langstrom. This must be Rebecca, don't worry kiddo, we're here to help you."

"Becky, go with them. I need to find your brother. You'll be safe here until I come back."

"Wait, we can help you find Aaron. You don't need to go off on your own." Jack took a few careful steps forward. He really didn't want Langstrom to leave but he'd hate to have to shoot the man in front of his daughter. Hopefully, he could reason with him.

"No, it will be faster if I go myself. I give you my word that I'll be back but I won't leave my son alone in the cave." Before Jack could say another word, Kirk pushed back from Rebecca and launched himself into the air. Several of the officers gave startled shouts and their guns tracked the bat-demon as he soared over their heads but Jack motioned for them not to shoot. Even if they used the darts with Tetch's drug, he would still fall from the sky and likely be killed. It was better just to let him go and trust that he'd keep his word.

Two of the medics came forward to escort Rebecca to a waiting ambulance for an exam. They coaxed the girl into walking with them without a fuss but she gave Jack a wide berth and seemed afraid of him. Children tended to be either frightened or fascinated at the sight of his clown-like face. It was depressing to think that she'd probably seen far more gruesome sights than his permanently dyed visage but he was used to people reacting badly to the sight of him.

The plants were nearly done with the first floor when his phone rang again. He picked it up and frowned when he didn't recognize the number. His number was unlisted and his calls were screened by one of Nigma's programs to prevent sales calls. But it could be one of his agents calling from a regular phone so he answered it.

"Hello?"

"You're making a big mistake, Jack. You should have left well enough alone."

"Wayne?? How did you get this number?" He was shocked to recognize Bruce Wayne's deep voice on the phone. He'd heard it enough times at various functions and fundraisers but there had never been this level of rage in the playboy's voice.

"That was child's play. The more important question is did you really think you could get away with this? You have no idea what I'm capable of. I admit, our little game was getting tiresome recently but now I'm going to have to take it to the next level. You think this city was full of pain and fear before? When I get through with it, the past five years are going to feel like a picnic."

"Bruce, wait. We can talk about this rivalry between the two of us. You don't have to drag anyone else into this."

"It's too late for that, Jackie. But don't worry. I won't kill you now. You get to live long enough to see your beloved city in ruins and to know that it's your own fault."

There was a click as Bruce hung up on him. Jack was left staring at the phone, shaking with rage, and unable to do anything about it. If Wayne thought that Jack was going to back down or get so upset that he acted rashly, then he didn't know the Commissioner all that well. He wasn't going to let Wayne intimidate him. Grimly determined, Jack began dialing his squad leaders with new instructions. It was time to step up their efforts. Wayne wasn't going to win. No matter what it took, Jack was going to see him stopped.


	13. Part 13, Fire in the Sky

Part 13, Fire in the Sky

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"A night flowing with birds, a ragged moon

And in broad day, the midnight comes again!

A man goes far to find out what he is

Death of the soul in a long tearless night

All natural shapes blazing unnatural light."

"In a Dark Time"

Theodore Roethke

Author's note: While the previous chapters were all from Jack's POV, certain sections of this and later chapters will be told from the perspective of other characters.

Gotham City appeared calm from a distance but anyone in the city itself was aware that something big was happening. Armed police officers and SWAT team members stood guard at buildings all over Gotham. Helicopters criss-crossed the air space over downtown and the docks. Most of the citizens were staying inside but the chatter on local websites was unending.

The theories ranged from all-out war on the Bat-Demons to an attempt by Commissioner Napier to seize control of the city for unknown reasons. Conspiracy theories were spouted, ranging from the police being in cahoots with the demons to ideas of bioweapons and viruses being unleashed on the city. There were medical units with each police unit so it was assumed that might mean something more serious than the almost routine demon attacks.

Most people also had their televisions or radios on, monitoring the local news anchors who were assuring everyone that there was nothing to be worried about and that this was just a routine police maneuver. Everyone was urged to stay indoors until further notice except in the case of emergencies.

It was 3:43 p.m., well after the end of the noon news, when the anchors suddenly came back on the air with breaking news. While the vast majority of Gotham watched, they played a recorded message from the head of the city. Jack Napier's familiar, clown-like visage appeared on every screen in the city.

"Citizens of Gotham, I'm here to announce that we now know the identity of the Bat-Demon. Four days ago, my operatives captured one of the creatures and managed to restore her to human form. She revealed that the original demon is none other than billionaire Bruce Wayne. Wayne has used his funding and support to develop a formula that changes people into the bat-demons and has also used it on himself.

But we have the means to stop him and save those that he has brainwashed and forced into serving him. As of right now, Bruce Wayne is to be considered a dangerous fugitive. If you see him or any of the other demons, do not approach. Instead, please contact the police.

I urge everyone to remain calm. The Gotham PD has the situation well in hand. We will not allow mass hysteria or vindictive acts against Wayne Enterprises or its employees. None of them had any idea what their employer was involved in." Jack's face went grim as everyone hung on his every word. He looked directly into the camera with intense green eyes.

"Now, a word to Bruce Wayne. You cannot escape. You cannot hide. We will find you and we will stop you. I strongly urge that you give yourself up now and make it easier on yourself. But make no mistake, you cannot win. The reign of the Bat-Demons is done. That is all."

The video ended. Everyone who had seen the video stared at their screen in disbelief, including the news anchors who had not seen the contents of the video before they aired it. Could it be true? Was the source of all their nightmares really the boring, strait-laced playboy who was a common sight at every major Gotham function?

When reality sunk in, the websites came close to crashing from the resulting pandemonium of speculation. The anchors talked about the video in shock, wondering what would happen now. At Wayne Enterprises, some employees were so upset that they had to be sent home under police escort.

In the heart of the city, Bruce Wayne watched the video with a satisfied smile. Flanked by two of his demons, he patted the vials of serum in his pocket. Napier thought he could stop the demons. Wait until he had to deal with a whole city overrun by them. Bruce didn't care if he won the war. Win or lose, it was more important to bring the city to it's knees, to make it suffer as he had suffered. And he knew just where to begin.

At Wayne Manor...

The outer walls of the mansion had been razed to the ground by Ivy's plants. Doing so had exposed a shaft that seemed to lead down to the caverns. Jack was wary of going down there until he was sure there were no more traps left. So the animated plants were tearing away everything around it in order to widen the hole.

The officers had secured the perimeter and it would be up to Jack and a small contingent of guards to enter the tunnel and find Aaron and Kirk Langstrom. There were several who had argued that Jack should stay back and let the others take the risk of entering the Batcave but he'd shot that down. He needed to be a part of this operation as much as possible. If he wanted to stay safe, he would have stayed back at headquarters.

Edward would monitor them from above. Jack and the other officers were wearing homing beacons that Chief Nigma could track so they wouldn't get lost. Pam was staying above ground, arguing that her powers were more effective here where there was abundant plant life under her control than down in a barren cave,

Part of him was interested in figuring out what kind of impact his video announcement was having on the city. It had been short work for Eddie to set up the equipment to record the message and then e-mail it to all the major news stations in Gotham. He'd already reported that the chatrooms were going wild with speculation but all Jack was concerned about was how would Bruce Wayne react?

It was likely that he would do something spectacular in its violence in order to show his displeasure. Jack had security forces deployed throughout the city. Nigma's robots covered even more ground than the human officers could manage and between the two, they would be able to respond quickly to whatever happened.

"Commissioner, we're ready to go down." Otis Flannegan, one of Stirk's team members was an expert in spelunking. He was the one who would lead the way down into the caves. Jack nodded at him to proceed. Pam's plants had moved back from the hole and the officers had to walk between them which seemed to make some of them nervous. Metahumans were still shunned by many people and they'd seen the kind of damage the modified trees and clinging vines could do. Pam seemed to be amused by their reaction.

Officer Flannegan had himself strapped into a harness and one of Nigma's men had set up a winch to lower him down. They'd secured a rope ladder to the side of the shaft as well but Flannegan's job would be to check for traps and make sure the way was clear.

They all watched with trepidation as the officer descended. A few tense seconds were broken by Flannegan radioing back that he'd reached the cave floor and was fine. He deployed one of Nigma's smaller bots that was designed to detect explosives and after a little exploration, declared the area safe enough.

Jack insisted on being the next one down. He scrambled down the rope ladder with ease and joined Officer Flannegan at the bottom. The cave stretched out before them, lit only by the two robots and the lights on the men's helmets. It was far too large to be fully seen in the limited light and most of it remained in shadow.

He moved forward cautiously, letting the robots scout out ahead of him and the others. His officers had moved into a half-circle behind him, trying to cover the whole area as they walked further into the cave.

All of them were equipped with both handheld flashlights as well as ones on the hard hats they wore in place of the usual helmet. In the ring of wavering lights that shifted with every movement, Jack could pick out many of the features he'd seen on Nigma's laptop.

There was the bank of computers to his right. To his left were the cabinets filled with neat rows of chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Metal gleamed from a hundred places where weapons, tools, and machinery were placed in every available corner. Some of them he couldn't even identify although perhaps Nigma or one of the others could.

The robot had gone ahead and was now stationed by the entrances to two tunnels that branched off of the main cave. There were other tunnels as well but the robots sensors had detected heat and possible movement down these two so they were the best place to start. Some of the other tunnels were tiny and would have to be crawled into but these two were wide enough for Jack to walk upright although he might have to duck his head in places.

They separated into three groups. Flannegan would lead a small force through one passage while Jack led his group down the other. The rest of the men would spread out to guard the area and watch for any signs of life in the other passageways.

Jack stepped into the tunnel. The main cave was oddly warm, possibly because of all the residual energy from the machines but in here it was cooler. He was grateful for that as the amount of gear and body armor he was carrying on him made him sweat as it was.

The tunnel looked natural but it showed signs of human influence where rough projections had been smoothed down and there were lights strung along one side. He didn't know how to activate them but it was better if they only relied on their own lights instead of trusting to Wayne's technology. For all they knew, the lights were really explosives or emitted gas when turned on.

The robot halted ahead of him. Its sensors were displaying thermal images of what was ahead and there were two large blobs of heat just around the curve. It might be Dr. Langstrom and his son or it might be two of the other demons. He motioned to the men to be ready. It wouldn't be easy to fight in a confined space like this but they were professionals and would manage just fine.

"Dr. Langstrom? It's me, Commissioner Napier. We're here to help." There was no point in hiding. The creatures advanced senses would have picked up the sound of their footsteps and heartbeats long before they got anywhere near. Hopefully it actually was Langstrom and they wouldn't need to fight anyone.

"So you say, Napier. I'm still not convinced but I'm going to give you a chance to prove it." It was Langstrom's voice and he relaxed slightly as the bat-demon rounded the corner. There was another demon slung over his shoulder. It wasn't his son and appeared to be unconscious.

He let the body hit the ground in front of Jack. The officers had all their guns pointed at him but he ignored them and focused only on the clown-faced man. The demon at his feet was female and still alive.

"You say you can change us back. Prove it on her and I'll believe you."

"All right. Have you found your son? Are there any other demons down here that we need to worry about?"

"My son is hiding until you succeed at changing her. She was the only one on guard duty. The rest are scattered around the city."

"Do you know their precise locations? It would be very helpful if you could tell us where they all are."

"I don't know. They're supposed to choose random spots. You're running out of time and my patience."

Jack didn't bother to reply but instead took out one of Tetch's vials from a padded pocket on his jacket. He crouched down and injected it into the woman's arm before standing back up to face Langstrom.

"The reversal will take a bit of time. While we wait, is there anything you can tell me about Wayne or the others that might be useful?"

"No. I was the only one who was never allowed to leave the cave. I was too valuable as his researcher. Tell me more about my wife. How is she mentally?"

Jack described Francine's condition as much as he dared. It went without saying that she was their prisoner and therefore restrained but he didn't bother to get into detail. It should be enough for Kirk to know that she was safe.

It was roughly ten minutes after injection that the female demon began to writhe and flail as the drug took affect. They all stepped back to give her room as her wings unfolded, flapping wildly before shriveling away. She was still unconscious through the whole ordeal but when it was done, a nude human woman lay prone on the ground with no trace of the demon she had been.

He crouched down to inspect her and then started at her familiar face. At least now he knew that Selina Kyle was alive although he couldn't guess what her mental state might be once she woke up. He motioned to one of the men who produced a blanket from his pack and together they wrapped her in it after cuffing her hands together.

"You were telling the truth." Langstrom was clearly astounded.

"Of course. I wouldn't make such a huge claim if I couldn't back it up. Now are you willing to come out with your son?"

"Yes. Wait here. I'll go get him."

They waited impatiently as Langstrom disappeared into the darkness around the corner. This could still be a trap despite the man's seeming cooperation. But to Jack's relief, Kirk returned five minutes later with a small bat-demon clutched in his arms. The boy looked at them with huge eyes and shrieked in fear, making all of the men wince. He struggled to escape his father's grasp but Kirk merely held him harder.

"It's okay, Aaron. I won't let them hurt you. We're going to go see mama." Aaron stopped struggling then but he still looked uncertain about the men or maybe just Jack.

"We can change you when we get out of here. Now that we've proven ourselves, is there anything else you can tell us that might prove useful?"

"Only that you would be wise not to underestimate what Bruce Wayne is capable of. He's insane but he's also a genius and completely obsessed with punishing Gotham for his past problems. There is nothing he won't do; no one he wouldn't sacrifice to achieve his goals. He'll burn Gotham to the ground if he thinks he won't get his way."

"But what the hell does he want anyway? How does killing random people make up for his parents death?"

"He wants control of the city and he wants everyone to fear him. But mostly he wants chaos. He wants everyone in the city to live their lives unbalanced and unsure of what might happen at any time. The Bat Demons were really just a small part of his larger plans which he has been working on for years. And I don't know what that plan entails. I only know he said it would be his masterpiece."

That didn't sound good but until he knows more, Jack had to stick with his current strategy of flooding the city with men and resources in order to flush the demons out of hiding. There was no telling what Wayne might try and it was a big city. He would just have to keep his officers stationed around the city to cover as much of it as possible.

Langstrom followed them out to the main chamber, carrying his son. One of the men carried Selina Kyle's unconscious body. The officers left to guard the tunnels started when they spotted the bat-Demon following Jack out but he signaled them to hold their fire.

"Call the other team back. We're going back outside." He instructed them to wait and led his own team back toward the entrance. Sunlight streamed down through the hole making a small pool of light on the cave floor. Once they restored Kirk, Jack would send him and his son to stay with Francine until this was over.

He knew that taking out a few or even all of Wayne's followers wouldn't stop the man. Wayne was a huge threat all on his own but every little victory would give his teams that much more confidence that this might actually come to an end. It was a big city but Wayne couldn't hide forever. Eventually, they'd drive him out into the light and take him down. Jack couldn't afford to believe anything less.

At police headquarters...

Dr. Jervis Tetch normally prided himself on being a calm, cheerful, and rational person. He had remained unruffled through years of putting up with Napier's moodiness, everyone's fear of the Bat-Demons, and hectic days of research that seemed designed to drive him insane, without batting an eye.

But right now he found himself nervous and pacing around the room. He couldn't sit still but he couldn't sit by the television screen or his laptop and wait for updates about the hunt for the demons either. The building was nearly empty and so quiet that he felt uneasy for no specific reason.

While Officer Lyle Bolton was technically in charge of the building at the moment, Jervis was in charge of his patients and he knew they were the most important things to Jack right now.

Francine and Harley were asleep. Mrs. Napier had been moved up here to the secure wing of the infirmary because Jack didn't want her to be isolated if the demons attacked. So the two women lay in beds on opposite sides of the room, each with their own personal guard at their side.

Jonathan was awake and trying to read a book but his gaze kept straying to Jervis every time the British neuroscientist checked the latest news. Dr. Crane looked pale and composed but Tetch knew the psychiatrist was just as nervous as he was. It would be a good thing to get rid of the demons but by attacking Wayne directly, Jack was probably stirring up a hornet's nest of trouble.

The nurses carried out their duties as unobtrusively as possible. Everyone seemed hushed as though they were waiting for something to happen. According to the last message Nigma had sent, Rebecca Langstrom was on her way to them and would arrive shortly. That would help break the routine as they checked her over and introduced her to her transformed mother.

Cobblepot was there as well but Jervis had sent him into another room after becoming annoyed at his constant questions. The man might be the mayor of Gotham but that didn't mean he needed to know every little detail of Jack's plan.

All told, there were only forty-two people in the entire building including sharpshooters stationed under cover on the roof and guards at every entrance armed with grenade launchers and automatic rifles. Two of Nigma's technicians were monitoring the power supply and the bank of cameras that showed everything within a block. This was probably the safest building in the city right now.

Somehow that knowledge didn't help, especially as he was also worried about his friends who were scattered all over the city fighting the war on multiple fronts. Jervis forced himself to sit down and took a sip from the lukewarm glass of water on the table. All he could do now was wait.

At Wayne Enterprises...

Harvey Dent waited impatiently for his team to finish their sweep of the entire floor. They'd found nothing in Wayne's office and would probably have to start tearing out walls to figure out how he escaped. That would require machinery and architectural experts which would take time to arrive. There was no point to it anyway. Wayne wasn't in the building any more. He was sure of it.

He wanted to get back out in the field where the real action was but protocol dictated that he remain here until his team was done. Once they had searched this floor and the ones below and above it and found nothing, then they could let the experts in to start knocking out walls. But it would probably be at least another hour or more before they were done and he was going to go crazy of boredom until then.

It didn't help that he had no real part in the search. His mission was to stay clear and report back to Jack on whatever the SWAT team might find. Most of the building was empty and only Wayne's secretary, Mary Collins, remained. The pale, nervous woman had barely said a word since they'd taken her statement and stayed close by his side as though her boss might return at any second and he alone could protect her.

"Sir, we've found something." One of the men called and he hurried over to see what was going on with Mary right at his heels. Five members of his team were clustered around the wall in Bruce's personal bathroom, just off his office. One of them had a sonar imaging device, invented by Chief Nigma, aimed at the wall to the left of the sink.

"There's a space here that can't be accounted for on the blueprints. I think there's something back there but we won't know until we figure out how to get it open."

"Give me your best guess. What does it look like?"

"It looks like a shaft but it only goes up. I checked the floor below and there's nothing that corresponds."

Dent considered this with narrowed eyes. They were very close to the top of the building and it might make sense for Wayne to make a roof-top getaway. They had assumed that any escape route would take him down into the building but if he could transform at will, then he might have just become the Bat-Demon and flown away. The only problem with this idea was that they'd had one of the helicopters over the building and the pilots should have seen anyone leaving, human or otherwise.

"Get some heavy equipment in here and start taking down the fixtures. We need to know where this goes." It could be a decoy. There could be more than one exit out of here, all cleverly concealed and possibly even booby-trapped. Wayne was one sick bastard but Harvey had to admit, he knew how to cover his tracks. He pulled out his radio and tried to contact the pilot.

"Travers? Are you there? Come in." There was only static in response and he fiddled with one of the dials and frowned in annoyance. "Travers? Can you hear me?"

"He can't hear you but I can." A deep, growling voice spoke from his comm device making him jump slightly and attracting the attention of everyone close enough to hear it. Dent felt a chill go up his spine at that familiar voice. How the hell did he hack into Nigma's frequencies?

"Wayne? I suggest you turn yourself in now while you have a chance. Because otherwise, we'll hunt you down like the animal you are." Bruce Wayne reacted to this statement with a contemptuous laugh.

"None of you stand a chance of taking me down. Maybe Jack does but I doubt he has the balls to do what needs to be done to stop me."

This was the monster who had burned half his face with acid, who had raped and beaten Harley into the state she was in now, who had tortured and murdered countless people. Any fear he'd felt melted away into anger at the arrogance of him.

"Oh yeah? And what's that, freak? Are you scared to face us on your own so you have to resort to childish taunts? Face it, Wayne. You're out of luck and out of time. You're finished in this town."

"Speaking of faces, how's the scars, Harvey? Do they still hurt? Do you wake up at night remembering the agony of that acid hitting your oh-so-handsome visage? I've considered finishing the job that was only half-done but you're more interesting this way."

"I'm not afraid of you, you son-of-a-bitch. I'm going to relish the sight of your broken body once we get through with you." Harvey had never had a problem keeping his anger in check. He was always cool and collected but Wayne knew how to push every one of his buttons.

"But you are afraid, Harvey. I can see it in your faces. And sadly for you, you won't live long enough to see anything else. Good-bye, D.A. Dent."

That didn't sound good. Harvey turned to tell the team to get out. He had just enough time to take a breath when the hidden room erupted in a spectacular fireball. The last thing Harvey Dent saw was Mary screaming and then there was nothing.

The Wayne Enterprises building was one of the tallest structures in the city and visible from a long distance away. So the explosion that took out the top six floors of the building caused immediate panic. News reports showed footage of the blackened twisted metal within minutes of the explosion and everyone in the city began wondering how things could possibly get worse.

Sitting in his private lair, the Bat-Demon smiled as he watched the news reports on the disaster. Jack thought he was hurting him by revealing his identity to the world but the truth was that Bruce Wayne was just a shell, a mask he'd hid behind for too long. How he hated every minute of playing the boring playboy while inside, his heart and mind howled for blood.

Now, without the constraint of his human identity, he was free to wage war on this city like nothing it had ever seen. It had been simple enough to fool the radar and sensors of the helicopter over his office. After all, his company had produced much of the technology that went into its make-up.

In fact, he could take down half the mechanical systems in the city with the push of a button but where was the challenge in that? Jack was going to have to learn that this city belonged to the Bat-Demon and there was nothing the Commissioner could do to stop him.

In fact, he was going to learn another hard lesson right now. Bruce leaned forward and taped a series of commands into the laptop in front of him. The screen flashed and then a mechanical voice intoned,

"Bat-cave self-destruct initiated. Sixty-second countdown engaged. Executed."

Let Jack deal with that while the Bat-Demon put his plans into motion. He wished he could see the look on the clown's face when he realized what was happening. Taking a hypodermic needle from his coat, he injected the serum and transformed smoothly into the demonic appearance that had terrorized the city for the past five years.

He'd done this so many times that it was like putting on new clothes and he barely registered the pain as his body shifted. Spreading vast wings, he signaled the three demons with him and headed out to claim his city.


	14. Part 14, Street Fight

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Ah love, let us be true

To one another! for the world which seems

To lie before us like a land of dreams

So various, so beautiful, so new

Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light

Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain

And we here as on a darkling plain

Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight

Where ignorant armies clash by night."

"Dover Beach,"

Matthew Arnold

&&&

When the ground began to shake under his feet, Jack thought it was another attack. He braced himself for whatever might erupt from the ruined lawn. But the rumbling only increased in volume and he found himself running towards the safety of the gates without even thinking about it. The guards ran with him and when they reached the street, they all turned back to see what was happening. Langstrom took to the air, holding his son to protect him as they hovered overhead.

The ground was collasping as the pre-set explosives went off one by one in a perfectly controlled manner. There was no time for those left in the cavern to react quick enough to get out as the walls of the caves were blown out and the remains of the manor came crashing down on them. Jack could only watch helplessly knowing that Flannegan and the others were gone. Dust and debris floated through the air and everyone was coughing and confused.

Eddie was swearing helplessly from under the table where he'd taken refuge, still clutching his precious laptop. Pam was cooing over some of her damaged plants which surrounded her like children but there was anger in her eyes when she turned to look in Jack's direction. Jack turned his anger towards the only person who could have possibly prevented this.

"Langstrom! Why didn't you tell me the damn place was rigged to explode? I lost a dozen good men in there."

Langstrom landed gracefully, ignoring the hostile glares of the remaining officers.

"Wayne has many defenses that I'm not aware of. It wouldn't surprise me if he has rigged most of the city with explosives. I'm surprised you did not anticipate such actions from him."

Jack wanted to be angry at the creature. He wanted to order his men to dart Langstrom, make him change back and fall from the sky. But instead, he controlled himself and motioned to a squad to investigate the ruins for any possible survivors. He already knew there would be none but they had to try.

"Boss, I've got some bad news. There's been an explosion at WayneTech and I can't get Harvey on the comms." Nigma said in a subdued tone drawing Jack's attention. He felt cold at the idea that something could have happened to his friend. Several attempts proved that Eddie was right. Harvey wasn't answering his phone but there was always a chance that he was merely injured or the phone had been damaged in the blast.

"I've got footage." Feeling helpless, Jack peered over Eddie's shoulder at the live feed from the Wayne building. Smoke billowed from the top floors and it was pretty obvious that anyone near the site of the explosion wouldn't have survived. "There are three confirmed fatalities on the ground from debris. Dent evacuated the staff before the explosion happened but I don't know where he was in the building when it happened."

"He was in Wayne's office last time I talked to him. Send whoever we can spare over there to investigate but I think we have to assume he's gone."

The death of Dent and his brave officers were more marks against Bruce Wayne that he would pay for once they caught him but that didn't make Harvey's death any easier to take. Jack had lost many friends over the years but knowing how close they were to ending this made it harder. Harvey would never see them succeed in catching his killer.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed all his feelings of anger away and turned to deal with more immediate problems. Nigma and Pam both looked upset as well but they knew how to maintain their composure even over the loss of a close friend. Jack turned to the adult bat-demon who had landed and was crouched ten feet away.

"Dr. Langstrom, I'm going to have to ask you to take the cure. We would feel safer transporting you to your wife if you were human again."

"I understand but Aaron was born this way. I don't want him given the cure until after extensive studies to see whether it will work for him."

"Agreed but will he be frightened by your transformation? I wouldn't want him to get scared and run off again."

"I have an idea." He put Aaron down and motioned for a piece of paper and a pencil. Awkwardly, he wrote something down with his clawed hands and then passed it to Jack.

Sedate him. It will be easier on all of us if he doesn't see the transformation.

That seemed like a sensible suggestion but they couldn't talk about it in front of the boy as his hearing was just as acute as any of the other demons. Jack showed the note to the medics and they nodded and prepared a syringe. They would have to guess on the dosage.

The paramedics left it on Nigma's table and retreated as Langstrom came forward. Aaron huddled in his father's arms looked at them all with fear but he simply looked at his father trustingly as the needle went in. Soon enough, he went limp in his father's arms and Langstrom grudgingly handed him over to the paramedics.

He didn't flinch as Jack injected him with the reversal drug. It seemed to take longer to affect him, probably because he'd been transformed longer than most, but eventually the drug kicked in and a very human Kirk Langstrom fell to the ground.

The paramedics checked his condition and then bundled him into the ambulance along with Aaron. They would take the two of them to Police Headquarters and let Jervis and his staff tend to them. Jack had his own agenda to pursue.

He left a small number of officers to guard the remains of Wayne Manor even though he knew Wayne wouldn't be coming back here. But it was possible that one of the other demons might return here if they were flushed out of other hiding places.

The rest of them packed up their gear and split into two teams. He sent one to WayneEnterprises to assist in the investigation of the explosion. Pam, Eddie, himself, and twelve officers headed for a rendezvous at the docks with Stirk's team.

Stirk's team had captured one of the lesser demons and Jack wanted to interrogate her as soon as possible. They'd already administered the reversal drug so she should be awake by the time they got there.

The roads were largely deserted which made their trip much quicker. The street leading up to the warehouse where they'd cornered the demons earlier was swarming with police and paramedics but they all parted for Jack and the others.

Stirk looked rather haggard as he came to meet them despite his success. His team was the only besides the Commissioner's own to take down any of the demons. With one dead and one captured, he'd reduced the lesser demons population and brought them one step closer to victory.

"She's awake but she's still disoriented. We've identified her as Barbara Gordon. The reversal drug didn't work on the dead male so we haven't been able to identify him yet." Stirk wasn't one to waste time with pleasantries when there was work to be done. But he stopped talking and looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry about Harvey, Jack. He was a good man."

"I know. Where is she?" He let Stirk lead him, Eddie, Pam, and three guards to a large holding van. Everyone kept their weapons ready as he opened the back doors. The young woman inside blinked at them as the bright lights hit her eyes but otherwise she seemed placid. She was as bald as Francine had been when she first changed back. They'd dressed her in a hospital johnny and handcuffs kept her restrained as Jack approached.

"Hello Barbara. Do you know who I am?" He crouched down to be at eye-level with her and avoid intimidating her with his considerable height. She stared at him for a second and then flinched and looked away.

"You're Commissioner Napier." Her voice was hoarse and scratchy but understandable. "He hates you." There was no need to ask who "he" was.

"The feeling is mutual. But I'm trying to stop him. I need your help, Barbara. Do you think you can help me?"

"They killed my father." Her eyes went to Stirk and then back to him. She looked frightened and exhausted but he didn't have time to coddle her.

"Is that who the other one was? I'm sorry but my men were defending themselves. They're trying to defend the whole city from Bruce Wayne and his madness. If you help me, then no one else will have to lose a loved one."

Barbara looked at him uncertainly. If this were any other day he could be patient but today he needed an answer. If she refused to tell him anything, then he had to pursue other leads. He couldn't afford to waste too much time here.

"If I tell you what you want to know, what happens to me? Am I going to jail?"

"I can give you amnesty if you're truthful with me. I know that Wayne was controlling all of you. You're the victim here."

She ducked her head down and hunched her shoulders, obviously uncomfortable with the idea of being a victim. Jack suppressed a sigh of irritation as he waited for her answer. After a few minutes, she looked back up at him.

"What do you want to know?" She sounded defeated but he'd take any information she was willing to give him even if he had to drag it out of her.

"Where are the others hiding? I don't want anyone else to end up dead. I need this to be resolved as peacefully as possible but that's not going to happen if Wayne escalates it to all-out war. Also, do you know what his big plan is and what it entails?"

"I don't know anything about his plans. He only told us what he thought we needed to know. I don't know where the others are right now. We're all supposed to find random hiding places during the day except when he needs us to be somewhere. They could be just about anywhere in the city. But he usually keeps his favorites with him."

"Who are his favorites?"

"Richard Grayson, Tim Drake, and Cassandra Cain. They're his most devoted followers and the ones he sends out on his most important missions."

"Interesting. It's too bad that you can't tell us more. You're going to have to go into protective custody until this is all over. Some of my men will escort you back to police headquarters. Perhaps, we'll talk again later if it's necessary."

Jack left the van with a feeling of disappointment. He'd hoped that Barbara Gordon would be more helpful but he supposed that would be too easy. It was possible that once the woman recovered more fully from the forced transformation that she might remember something useful but he wasn't pinning any hopes on it.

Besides Wayne himself, there were still six bat-demons at large. They needed to find his helpers and cut him off from the others. But Gotham was huge and they could be just about anywhere. There were any number of abandoned and decaying buildings that they could be hiding in and once it got dark they could go out and wreck more destruction under the cover of night. Nigma was studying something on his laptop screen as Jack walked over to him.

"Status report, Chief?"

"Nine of the eleven sites have been confirmed clean or secured. Bane's team is still in the process of infiltrating the Francis St. location. They're trying to take it slow to avoid any panic from the neighbors. The team down at the docks thinks they might have a hit. There are two heat signatures inside the factory. They've got the building surrounded and they're asking for more back-up before they go in."

"Send anyone we can spare. If we can get two more of the demons off the playing board, then we'll have even more of an advantage." It was possible that the heat signatures in the abandoned factory were from human squatters but that was unlikely. There weren't very many homeless people left in the city and they were unlikely to stay anywhere that was so isolated.

"On second thought, I'm going to head over there myself. Tell them to stall as long as they can." Nigma looked at him startled but didn't bother to object. Technically, it probably wasn't safe for Jack to go to the scene of the stand-off but it was his decision.

Eddie packed up his laptop again and then joined Jack and Pam in the back of the police van as they headed towards the docks. It was eerie to drive through the deserted streets of Gotham which were normally filled with people this time of day but they were able to make it to the docks quicker than usual without the interference of traffic.

Jack surveyed the ring of cop cars and SWAT vans that surrounded the old factory. Two helicopters circled overhead, projecting searchlights onto the building below. It looked like his officers had everything in hand but he wanted to see the outcome of the situation. Removing two more of the lesser demons from Wayne's control would be quite an achievement.

The officer in charge of the scene, Arnold Etchinson, came up to the truck to brief him. Jack stepped out to meet him but kept the van between himself and the building. The demons had never resorted to guns before but he wouldn't put it past them to change their tactics if needed.

"Sir, we're prepared to send a SWAT team in. They will storm the building from below as well as above. Several of my men are in the helicopters, ready to land on the roof. They won't be able to get away."

"We're certain the two inside are bat-demons?"

"The heat signatures are consistent with their parameters and we've heard screeching from inside. It didn't sound human, sir."

"Very well. Proceed carefully."

Jack got back in the van for his own protection as the SWAT team was given last minute instructions. Pam and Eddie peered over his shoulder out the windshield as the officers charged the building. The flimsy wooden doors were smashed in as the rest of the troopers descended onto the roof on strong cables. It would have been too dangerous for the choppers to land on the roof so as soon as the men were down, they soared back up to light the scene.

One of Nigma's robots had been sent in ahead of the men. This one was designed for aerial reconnaissance and it flew up the stairs before the men reached them, transmitting shaky images of peeling paint and rotting wood. Hopefully, the stairs would hold under the weight of the heavily armored men.

They did hold but the stairs were rickety enough that the men had to go single-file which was never good from a strategic point of view. At the top of the stairs was a small balcony overlooking the main floor of the empty building. The officers in front stationed themselves as best they could and then they battened down the door.

The three of them were watching on Eddie's laptop as the aerial robot darted in ahead of the men. They threw tear gas grenades into the room as they took up a defensive position by the door. The plan was that the men on the roof would burst into the room from the rooftop access and drive the demons toward the door where they could be shot with the reversal drugs.

Things didn't happen quite as planned. The robot scanned the room but there was nothing to be seen through the choking smoke as the men from the roof came in through a side door. It wasn't until the 'bot panned upwards that they saw the creatures hanging from the ceiling. They dropped down onto the confused officers and then there was screaming, running, and guns going off. The 'bot was programmed to focus on movement and all it could do was whirl in circles as everyone swirled around it.

"Damn it, what the hell is going on?" Jack was frustrated by his need to know what was going on versus his need to stay safe. He'd always preferred action and would rather have led the mission himself rather than sit around watching his men get hurt from a distance. But he was smart enough to know that his death would be a big moral blow for the GCPD.

After a few minutes, the noise died down and the 'bot's camera stabilized. Through the dissipating tear gas, they could see several men stumbling towards the door as well as several inert bodies on the ground but it was too hazy to tell who was who. There was an odd crackling sound in the background which Jack thought at first was coming from the speakers. Then he realized it was the same sound he'd heard from Francine when she'd transformed. At least one of the demons was still alive in there and becoming human again.

"Report. What's the situation?" He snapped into the microphone that transmitted his voice from the aerial robot. One of the men snapped a hasty salute and came close enough to be heard.

"Commissioner, we got both of them. One's dead and the other's reverting to human right now. I have three men confirmed dead and several wounded. We're still sorting it out up here."

"Understood. Get back to me when you know more." The cynical part of Jack's mind noted that three dead wasn't that bad compared to past engagements. They certainly wouldn't be the only ones to die before this was all over. But these men were his responsibility and every death was bound to weigh on his conscience.

Just today, they'd already lost Harvey and his team, Officer Flannegan and the others who had been in the Batcave when it was destroyed, and now this. The most Jack could hope for was that this would be over quickly and that the casualties would be kept to a minimum. He'd stick around here for a little while until he was sure of the full impact of the attack but there were other places in the city they needed to check. He glanced up at the late afternoon sky and hoped they would have more successes before the sun went down.

Jervis Tetch was ecstatic when the first ambulances pulled into the parking garage at police headquarters. Not only was it a break from the monotony of waiting but it gave him and his staff something to do as they cared for the new patients. He would much rather work than sit around idle anyway.

One of the paramedics emerged from the ambulance holding the hand of Rebecca Langstrom. The girl looked scared as she glanced around at the bustle of activity.

"Hello Rebecca, I'm Dr. Tetch. I've been treating your mother. Would you like to see her?" The girl regarded him distrustingly and only gave a quick nod in reply. She didn't seem to want to let go of the female paramedic's hand so Tetch sent them up to the infirmary with a nurse as a guide.

The second ambulance arrived about twenty minutes later. It held the unconscious bodies of both Kirk and Aaron Langstrom. Jervis was shocked at the sight of the tiny bat-demon and for a moment, the itch to inject him with the reversal drug and see what happened came to mind. But he would never do anything to endanger the boy's life. Perhaps after more study, he could find a different way to bring Aaron back to humanity.

He'd received word that another humanized former demon would be arriving soon but he didn't have time to hang around the garage and wait so he headed back upstairs. At the lab, he found Rebecca Langstrom with her arms wrapped around the paramedic's legs, crying her eyes out. Francine was being held down by the guards as she strained to reach her daughter. Tears streamed down her face as she stared at the frightened Rebecca.

"What's going on here?"

"That's not my mommy. She doesn't have fur."

Relief went through him at such an easy answer. He'd been afraid that Francine had been too enthusiastic over the reunion and accidentally done something to frighten Rebecca. The girl simply didn't recognize her mother in her correct form.

"Sweetheart, this is your mother. We've made her human again. We've saved her and your father and we're going to help your brother too."

She glared up at him through her tears and he almost recoiled at the hatred there.

"The Demon will punish her. She's been bad. He'll punish all of us and you can't stop him. He'll come for us."

For a moment, he felt a chill run down his spine and the light seemed to dim for a moment as though some huge shadow had passed between them. But then logic reasserted itself. The girl had grown up under horrific conditions. It made perfect sense that she was scared and expected her very real version of the boogeyman to find her again.

But they already assumed that Wayne might try to come here and they had some of the best security in the world to keep him out. Psychiatrists should be able to help the girl adjust to her new life. Once Wayne was caught or killed, Rebecca would have to learn to live without being in constant fear. They all would.


	15. Part 15, Breaking the Chain

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Man, frightening animal, snarls in the chains of gravitation

With godhead, a quicksilver skeleton in his body

The miracle of language hanging from his tongue

He crawls down the boulder of history, gleaming and bloody

Drinks from the well, the aeons panting from his lungs

And anoints his forehead with the starlight of elation."

"Man, Frightening Animal," Oscar Williams

The bat-demon crouched in the safe darkness of the empty room. His master had ordered him to wait until night to carry out his instructions but it was so hard to obey when he wanted to be active. The shadows were lengthening outside but dusk was still an hour away and he was bored. Membraned wings rustled and twitched and his talons clicked impatiently on the floor as he paced to keep himself awake.

It wouldn't do to fall asleep but he hadn't had a chance to rest all day. The master had been so angry over Napier's attacks at first that he had beaten his two followers when he'd found them asleep in their roost. Only their unresisting groveling had made him regain his senses and settle down.

Of course, he had a plan now. The master always had a plan. The demon's younger brother had been sent to a different location and each of them had only been told their own part in this. He looked forward to fulfilling his duty and to the delicious terror and panic it would cause when he was done. The night would be his if only he could stay awake.

At Police Headquarters…

Jervis was enjoying the chance to examine his new patients. Individual medical teams attended to each of the new arrivals. Selina Kyle, Barbara Gordon, and Dr. Kirk Langstrom were all unconscious and shackled but the boy, Aaron, had woken up. He had reacted with panic at his strange surroundings and struggled against his restraints until someone had the sense to get his sister in to calm him.

It had worked and Rebecca now sat at her brother's bedside talking to him in a low voice and clutching the teddy bear someone had given her. Jervis had heard enough to know she was telling him that their mother was alive but changed and that the others were trying to stop the demon. He didn't really care what she said as long as it kept Aaron quiet.

Dr. Tetch had taken a sample of the boy's blood and tissue while he was still unconscious and he was having it analyzed to see if there was any chance Aaron could be returned to a human form but he doubted it. If the boy had been born this way then it was likely genetic and that would be much harder to change than the effects of the serum Wayne used on his adult victims. Still, it didn't hurt to try and the results would be invaluable in discovering more about the bat-demon's transformation.

It was hard in some ways being regulated to the sidelines. He was only finding out what was happening in the city after the fact. His expertise wasn't much use in the field and he was serving the cause much better by being here but the insatiable need to know things made him twitch a little at the thought of what might have happened already without him being aware of it.

He had no way of knowing if any of his friends were even alive at the moment. Harvey's death was still a shock and it was hard to believe that he was gone. But Jervis knew that they would likely lose others before this was all said and done and it broke his heart to think too much about it. The sooner this war was over, the better.

"Dr. Tetch? Selina Kyle is awake." One of the nurses informed him and he hurried over to the police woman's bedside to see for himself. She was indeed awake and regarding him with sharp green eyes. He couldn't tell what her mind set might be but at least she was restrained and guarded if she proved violent.

None of them were sure how deeply the Bat-Demon's brainwashing had gone. Selina had been a distinguished police officer before her disappearance but she had probably done terrible things and had terrible things done to her while she was changed. It might be more difficult for her to adjust than some of the others.

"Hello, Miss Kyle. I'm Dr. Jervis Tetch with the Gotham City Police Department. How are you feeling?"

"Where's Napier?" Her voice was low and raspy just like Francine's had been but she seemed very alert and aware of her surroundings.

"The Commissioner is out at the moment." He didn't feel it was necessary to tell her the truth just yet when he didn't know where her loyalties lay.

"How long? How long have I been gone?"

"Three years, I'm afraid. But you're safe now. We've rescued you."

"Fool." She snarled suddenly at him, twisting briefly against the restraints. "No one is safe. He'll come after all of us. He won't stop until we're all dead."

The guards had moved forward to stop her if she got too violent but that sentence seemed to have drained all her strength and she fell back on the bed, panting and exhausted. There was fear in her voice and Jervis twitched a little at yet another reminder of how evil Bruce Wayne really was. He had never met Selina Kyle before but every one who had ever talked about her had said she was fearless.

"I assure you that Commissioner Napier has every contingency covered. I have every faith in his ability to beat Mr. Wayne."

"You know who he is?" Selina looked surprised and the news seemed to reassure her a little but then she shook her head. "It won't help you. Wayne is smarter than Jack. He'll have plans ready to counter anything Jack can come up with. You don't know what he's capable of."

Jervis didn't know but part of him was afraid that they were going to find out. After determining that Selina wasn't going to say anything more, he went to check his other patients and tried not to check the clock too much. Night would soon be upon them.

At the warehouse…

Jack stared down at the writhing body of the bat-demon as it slowly transformed back into human form. The sound of bone cracking and skin splitting was still horrific and many of the police officers looked away but Jack was almost becoming used to it now.

When it was done and the young woman lay still and naked on the pavement, he motioned for the medical crew to move in. They efficiently restrained and examined the unconscious woman. The body of the other one, also female lay covered by a blanket as did the bodies of the four officers who'd been killed in the attack. None of them were anyone he'd known personally but any death was a cause for mourning.

He studied the young woman's face and realized he knew her. Stephanie Brown, Arthur's daughter who'd been taken two years ago. At least, her mother would have something to hold onto now. She'd been a wreck since the death of her husband and her daughter's disappearance.

This attack meant that besides Wayne, there were still four lesser demons out there. He didn't know who the dead one was but Wayne's pool of helpers was shrinking by the hour.

Unfortunately, nightfall would shift the power back to them. It would be much easier for the remaining demons to attack under the cover of darkness and they could be anywhere in the city. Jack's forces were stretched thin as it was. They couldn't be everywhere and would be forced into a purely defensive role as they waited to see what would happen.

Jack had no illusion that Wayne would lay low. The GCPD had struck a huge blow over the past ten hours and reduced the bat-demon population by two-thirds. He was sure Wayne's reaction would be swift, brutal, and cunning.

They would return to Headquarters when it got dark but for now he needed to stay here and oversee the clean-up. It was the least he could do for his men. He'd always made it a point to attend every funeral of an officer during his tenure as Commissioner. There had been far too many.

They were making progress but it was a huge city and there was no guarantee that the rest of the demons were actually in the known lairs. They could really be just about anywhere. They hadn't heard back from Bane at the Francis St. location but there were several reasons why he might be maintaining radio silence. Once that was cleared, all of the locations given to them by Francine would be covered.

It rankled Jack that he couldn't be on the front lines. At Wayne Manor, he'd been the one in charge and he'd made sure he was directly involved but here he had to be more careful and let his officers take the risks while he stayed on the sidelines.

Truthfully, he was pretty sure that Wayne didn't want him dead. They were linked together ever since the Demon had knocked him into that vat of chemicals and changed him forever. It was far more to Wayne's liking to keep Jack alive as long as possible so he could watch the slow destruction of his city and suffer along with it.

Still, it was best not to take chances. Even if Wayne didn't want him to die yet, his lesser demons might not be as careful and accidents could happen. His death would be a huge moral and physical blow to the force although he had no doubt that the others could manage without him if they had to.

The problem was what to do once night fell. Jack hadn't been naïve enough to believe they were going to accomplish the destruction of the bat-demons in one day and he knew that darkness was Wayne's friend. At night, the demons could attack and it would be easier for them to get away and hide.

All of Nigma's security bots and all of the helicopters were equipped with heat sensors that would be able to sense any attack coming from above but they didn't have complete coverage of the city and the demons could skulk around on the streets just as readily.

It had been suggested that they should retreat to the safety of Police Headquarters at night and concentrate on holding down the fort. But Jack couldn't let his city lie unprotected for hours while the demons ran unchecked through its street. Whatever retribution they chose to deal out tonight, one of the teams should be close enough to respond within minutes.

Once they'd cleared all of the lairs, each team would go to a specific location and patrol the area in order to provide city-wide coverage. The officers would provide twenty-four hour coverage of the city until all of the creatures were accounted for including Wayne.

Bruce Wayne perched on a rooftop and watched the police helicopters as they made their sweeps across the city. If he wanted to, he could send a signal that would take over their controls and send each one crashing into Gotham streets, causing death and destruction all over the city but that was too easy.

The loss of most of his minions didn't bother him. He could easily make more and if Grayson carried out his mission correctly, he would have a huge number of new bat-demons to spread fear and chaos over the city. He'd love to see the look on Jack's face when that happened. Hopefully the clown would live through this so Bruce could make sure that he saw his city in ruins. It was going to be glorious.

It wasn't that Bruce hated Jack. Really, the man was more amusing than anything else. No matter what horrors he went through, the Commissioner kept thinking that he was going to win and "justice" was going to prevail. Even attacking and raping his wife hadn't driven the man into a breakdown. Bruce kept hoping Jack would snap and go running through the streets screaming and shooting at random people but so far he'd clung to his sanity.

Now, Bruce was going to see just how far he could go before the Commissioner lost it. Everyone was going to die; Gotham would be no more, and if Jack was still sane after all of that, it would be a miracle. Bruce should have let loose like this years ago but he had to admit that stringing the city along for these past five years had been fun too.

He'd sent the other two demons out on separate missions but he wasn't ready to sit back and let his followers have all the fun. Once it got dark, things were going to get very interesting in the city and he wanted a front row seat.

People were scared but they still felt safe during the day. They'd learned to cope with the threat of the Bat-demons hanging over them and still tried to live normal lives. It must make the general public feel comforted to think that if they just followed the rules then they had nothing to fear. They were going to learn the hard way that that wasn't true anymore. They were going to learn the true meaning of fear at his hands.

Miguel "Bane" Dorrance crouched at the top of the stairs studying the heat detector in his hands. He and his team were slowly advancing through the six-story building, clearing each floor as they went. None of the helicopters were in the vicinity so they had to rely on the hand-held devices.

They'd cleared four floors so far and began spreading out in pairs through the fifth floor looking for any sign of possible demons. The building should be empty but they were all very careful not to take anything for granted. They'd evacuated the buildings on either side so the only ones in danger were them. This was the fourth building his team had searched and they'd left people behind at each one to stand guard but there were still plenty of officers surrounding the buildings.

He signaled the others to continue and eased himself up the stairs towards the top floor. As he reached the top, the detector went off and registered a heat signal down the hall. Bane froze and then a small smile curled over his face as he noted the temperature of the figure in the far room. It was too high to be human. He'd found one of the bat-demons.

It probably wasn't Wayne himself but that was okay. He just wanted the pleasure of taking one of them down with his bare hands. He made a series of gestures to the others below to alert them to his find and the men and women of his team took up positions silently and efficiently to block its escape routes. They radioed for a helicopter to come to their location but Bane wasn't going to wait until it got into position.

Three of the men, his personal team, joined him on the sixth floor. Trogg was carrying the sonic weapon that Tetch and Nigma had invented. It was unfortunate that there were only a handful to go around as they seemed quite effective. The heat signature hadn't moved and he wondered if the demon was injured or just waiting in ambush. Surely it would know they were there if it was at all aware of its surroundings? The demons had echolocation and senses that were far better than humans.

Bane was being as quiet as possible as he crept down the hall but the creature should have been able to hear him coming. And yet it stayed in the same spot and didn't react as he reached the door to the room. He readied his gun and opened the door as Trogg set off the weapon. Bird and Zombie came in behind him as he rushed into the room…

The bat-demon once known as Dick Grayson, jerked awake as the door was kicked open. He realized he'd fallen asleep and Bruce would likely kill him for it. But first he had to contend with the four humans opening fire on him. In the precious seconds it took for his mind to react to their presence, Bane fired a dart containing the reversal drug at him, catching him squarely in the chest.

Grayson snarled and bolted for the open window. He knew better than to take on four armed humans in such close quarters, especially when one of them was the size of Bane. The sonic weapon and the sudden awakening made him disoriented but he still managed to make it out the window ahead of the slower moving humans.

Bane would have opened fire on the fleeing demon but he was satisfied that the reversal drug was working its way through the creature's system. Why waste bullets and risk injuring others when they could simply follow and let the drug take its course?

Grayson's body ached all over. He didn't know what was wrong with him. His every thought was on escape. If he made it out of here, he could still carry out the plan and avoid his Master's wrath. He scrambled up the rusty fire escape. The alleyway was too narrow for him to fly in but if he could get to the roof, he could lose them.

Dick Grayson had been the first person Bruce had changed after the Langstroms and himself. He had taken the runaway boy in supposedly out of the kindness of his heart but really he had wanted a test subject who wouldn't be missed. Bounced from foster home to foster home after the tragic deaths of his parents, Dick had run away from all of them and ended up on the streets.

Bruce Wayne had been busy planning the Langstrom's kidnapping when the circus was in town. He'd never attended and never seen John and Mary Grayson fall to their death. Even if he had, he wouldn't have seen the grieving boy as anything more than a nuisance. But he'd seen Dick's potential when he saw the boy on the street holding his own in a fight against two older boys. He'd invited Dick Grayson to stay with him and the boy had agreed.

Grayson thought that he'd hit it big when he'd seen Wayne Manor and realized he'd be living there. Unfortunately for him, it had ended with his transformation into the bat-demon who was now clawing his way up the side of the building as the drug burned through his system. Grayson had been a demon for a long time and the drug took longer to take effect.

He reached the roof and leaped into the air as he'd done countless times before. He gained altitude as he heard a helicopter approaching from a distance. But his wings couldn't sustain him as they were weakened and shriveling from the reversal drug. Dick found himself falling. He missed the edge of the roof by inches as he clawed desperately at the air.

He didn't remember much of his life before his transformation but there was still muscle memory from his childhood days. Instinctively, he tucked his body in and somersaulted in mid-air. It allowed him to slow his fall and direct it closer to the sides of the building where he could try to grab a handhold.

Grayson tried to dig his claws into the side of the building but they were already reverting to human fingers. The pain of his shifting body made it hard for him to think clearly but he was able to hook a foot around the fire escape around the second floor. He dragged himself onto the platform and found himself unable to move any further. Consciousness fled as he lost all remaining traces of his former bat-like appearance.

Bane had seen the creature fall and he raced down the stairs while his team members followed close behind. He made it into the alley to find the medical team standing in the alley looking up at the fire escape. One limp arm dangled off of the edge. The rusted metal didn't look sturdy enough to hold their weight.

So Bane ordered everyone else to stay there and went back up to the second floor. He opened the window and pulled the young man's limp body through and onto the floor. Hoisting the former demon up, he studied the young man's face looking for any sign of the monster he'd been just minutes before For a moment, all alone with the former bat-demon, he felt the overwhelming urge to just snap the boy's neck. He wasn't Wayne but he'd been part of the terror that had held this city hostage for the past five years.

But Bane was, above all, a professional officer and he refused to be ruled by his emotions. So instead, he slung the young man over his shoulder and made his way back down to the medical team. Every transformation was a victory in itself but he still wished he had Bruce Wayne at his mercy. There would be no hesitation then.

Jack was glad to hear Bane's report. The medical team had identified the young man as Richard Grayson which meant one of Wayne's "favorites" was off the board. That left only three lesser demons and Wayne himself. It was an astoundingly successful day but it wouldn't last.

They'd taken the bat-demons by surprise. Even Wayne probably hadn't expected Jack's people to take down so many of his followers. But it only took one to create havoc in the city and they still had their work cut out for them.

Somewhere in the city…

The Bat-Demon stared at the police radio in his hand in disbelief. It had been child's play to tap into police lines and follow the progress of Jack's officers through the city. But the report had just come through the line that they'd captured and transformed Richard Grayson, his first success after the Langstroms.

Bruce saw all of his followers as pawns who could be sacrificed as necessary. His growing anger over Dick's capture was not because he cared about the boy but because it put a large crimp in his plans.

If he hadn't been captured, Grayson would have flown to a nondescript building which had access to the sewers and which contained a cache of bat-serum. Introducing it into the main water line for the city would have meant everyone who was exposed to it would start to feel edgy, violent, and impatient. The dose he'd instructed Grayson to add to the water wouldn't have changed anyone into a bat-demon. But it would push the city closer to riot mode.

Despite the revelations about Wayne being the bat-demon, there was still a lot of skepticism and hostility among the general population. Not everyone trusted Jack or the Gotham City Police Department in general. There had always been rumors that the GCPD were behind the demon attacks in order to maintain control of the city.

Even if outright violence didn't erupt from the first dose, the second component, introduced by Cassie into a different water main, would ensure that Jack would have more problems on his hand then just the handful of bat-demons left in the city. The citizens of Gotham would rip the city apart with their bare hands as his serum drove them insane. He'd have to thank Jonathan for creating it if the coward survived the madness.

And he still had Tim whose mission would ensure the loss of everything else that Jack cared about besides the city. Did Jack really think there was anywhere in the city that was safe from him? He controlled the city on every level. It was amusing to let Jack think that he had any chance of controlling the situation but that was going to come to an end.

They thought they'd cut him off from his mole within Police Headquarters but what none of them realized was that he didn't need to contact his unsuspecting accomplice through the phone lines or computers. He'd turned the man's technology against him and embedded a chip within the man's brain that allowed him total control whenever he wanted.

It was amusing that no one ever considered the potential of a chip that had been created to cure the mentally ill. It affected the brain waves of anyone it was used on but the effects didn't have to be positive. With only minor modifications, Wayne had created something that could turn anyone into a mindless slave who would do whatever they were told without any memory of it afterwards.

The only drawback was that it had to be surgically implanted in order to be fully effective and to avoid removal. But since he'd transformed his puppet before he reached Gotham, no one knew that he'd spent a week being chipped. The chip could only be used short term as it tended to burn out the brain tissue around it so he'd been saving it for a special occasion.

Now was the right time and they'd never see it coming. Grinning, he activated the controller to that chip and spoke his instructions into it.

"It's time, my little puppet. When it's fully dark, I want you to deactivate the building's defense systems and unlock the doors."

In Police Headquarters, Jervis Tetch had been typing in some of his observations about his new patients. He felt an odd tingling in the back of his head and then his body froze in place. If there had been anyone in the room with him, they would have seen his eyes glaze over and his breathing slow as the control device hidden within his skull was activated.

After a moment, he blinked as he realized he hadn't typed anything for the past two minutes. He shrugged off the momentary lapse as fatigue and went back to his work.

There was a vague feeling that he had something important to do in a couple of hours and that he better not forget but he was too focused on his work to really think about it. Outside, the shadows lengthened as the day headed closer to darkness.


	16. Part 16, Win or Lose

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Night itself, night is one long dark flower

She said night knows deep remembering

All flowers being some kind of remembering

And night itself folding up like many smooth dark flowers

Find me like the night finds

She measured herself so

Keep me like the night keeps

For I have night deeps in me."

"High Moments," Carl Sandburg

For five years, the nighttime had been a source of dread for the residents of Gotham. It was always night when the bat-demons came out to play. It was the darkness that hid them from sight until it was too late. It was every shadow that looked like one of them to nervous eyes.

As this day faded slowly into another night, something was different. The people of Gotham were angry and scared but there was knowledge there now as well. They knew the name and face behind the evil creature that had kept them terrified and afraid to go out at night. And they knew that he was only a man and not a demon. He could be stopped. He could be killed. He couldn't last much longer under the glaring spotlight he'd been put under.

But most of them were wise enough to know that it wasn't over yet. Bruce Wayne was still out there. Gotham was beginning to wake up to his deception but that didn't make him any less dangerous. No one would breathe easy until it was confirmed that he was dead or captured. Preferably dead.

Jack understood this so he tried not to feel too anxious at the gathering shadows as they drove through the streets of Gotham. Long before the sun fully set, many of the alleyways and corners were already in darkness as the towering building hid them from the sun's rays. Gotham was the perfect place for the remaining demons to hide.

His group was just one of many patrolling the city but since the armored car contained the Commissioner there was extra protection. A second car led the way and two of Nigma's bots flew before and behind the vehicles to scan for any approaching danger.

Jack had tried to argue that they needed the bots elsewhere but Eddie had insisted he had plenty and could spare these two for Jack. He'd tried to point out that the extra security would only alert Wayne as to where Jack actually was but again Eddie had pointed out that Wayne probably already knew.

Gotham didn't fully shut down at night. There were still people running errands and traveling from one place to another but there were certain precautions that were usually taken. Citizens stuck to certain areas that were patrolled routinely. No one went out walking by themselves and it was safer to go in groups. It was like living under siege but people had adapted.

Now, the streets were completely deserted which made Jack's little convey stand out even more. All of the teams were patrolling the city on highest alert but it was a huge city and they couldn't be everywhere. So Gothamites knew their best bet was to stay out of the way and avoid becoming cannon fodder or hostage material. It made it easier for the police if they didn't have to worry about the general public and could focus solely on finding the remaining demons.

Jack had several plans in motion. He certainly wasn't relying solely on the visible patrols and the helicopters. Wayne almost certainly had plans of his own in motion and without knowing what they might be, he had tried to prepare for everything. He'd called in everyone he could think of and stationed operatives at certain key point of the city. They were required to contact him every hour by typing in a code that went straight to Nigma's laptop. Failure to do so might mean they'd been caught in an attack of some kind and he could then direct his forces in that direction.

There were dozens of Nigma's robots swarming the streets and the air giving him almost complete coverage of the city. Jack could only hope that whatever happened, it wouldn't involve any casualties but he doubted Wayne would care. Given a choice, he'd prefer to do something that would kill innocent people rather than, say, blowing up an abandoned building to divert Jack's forces. They just had to go into a wait-and-see mode.

Below the streets of Gotham, a massive form moved silently through the sewer tunnels. Waylon Jones had been given a very special assignment by Commissioner Napier and he took his job very seriously. His animal senses made him a freak to the general public but down here, they gave him an advantage.

Jack knew that the bat-demons would probably go underground at times. Walker's helicopters were patrolling the skies making flight difficult and surface travel increased the chance they'd be spotted. So it made sense that they would probably use the tunnels to move about the city.

Except they wouldn't be alone. Nigma had provided Waylon with motion sensors which he had been deploying in large numbers throughout the tunnels all day. They were linked to the small electronic pad held delicately in one massive clawed hand as Killer Croc began his hunt.

He couldn't cover the whole city, of course. But he'd focused on the tunnels that ran beneath the main parts of the city and led to important sites. If the demons tried to move through any of the rigged areas, he'd find them and take them down himself.

Waylon hoped he'd get a chance to take on one of the demons personally. It would be satisfying to get some form of revenge on the creatures who had contributed to his being treated as a freak. Metahumans had often been celebrated before the rise of the supervillains but those like him that couldn't pass for human had always been viewed with a mixture of wariness and fear. But now, he was outright hated and if it wasn't for the protection of his badge, he'd probably have been hunted down and killed long ago.

Even though Waylon was well known to the public through television appearances, he was often treated with hatred when on assignment. Reactions ranged from insults to people avoiding him as much as possible to the occasional thrown object. He supposed it was somewhat understandable.

Those who had only seen him on T.V. were often unprepared for the sheer size of the reptilian man and the unmistakable alieness of his appearance. He was warm-blooded unlike real reptiles but he still had a tail, claws, fangs, and scaled green skin. He understood that he appeared to be a monster but that didn't stop it from hurting when children screamed at the sight of him and civilians ran the other way. Even some of his fellow officers were afraid of him.

He owed everything to Jack who had recruited him when he was just a down-and-out sideshow wrestler and brought him onto the force. As he'd proven his worth time and time again, he'd gained the acceptance of most of the force. Killer Croc had finally found a place where he belonged and he wouldn't let any winged freaks take that away from him.

He was near the underside of City Hall when the device in his hand came to life. It was designed to be silent to avoid anyone nearby hearing it so instead a small white light appeared on the map of the city. The motion sensors had detected movement near the city waterworks. Something the size of a small bat-demon was passing through the tunnels towards the utility building.

He'd placed sensors at different heights so that he could get an idea of the intruder's size. This wasn't Wayne but it was one of his helpers. It had to be because who else would be down here right now? It would take him nearly twenty minutes to reach the site but he didn't care. He sent the info to Nigma who probably already knew about it and then set off at full run. He wouldn't let the creature get away. Now was his chance to bring one of the creatures to justice.

Twenty minutes away under the Gotham water plant, the bat-demon crawled down the concrete tunnels, ignoring the dirty water flowing below her. She was confident that she would succeed in her part in the masters plan and be rewarded for it. She had no fear of being discovered and even if she was there was nothing she couldn't deal with herself.

Before now when she'd been known as Cassandra Cain, she'd been trained from birth to be a living weapon. Her father had trained her to fight crime and defend the weak but Bruce Wayne had killed her father and taken her as his own weapon. As a human, she'd been deadly and unstoppable by any ordinary human. As a bat-demon, she was far more dangerous than she'd been before and she reveled in the carnage she'd caused.

So let the humans try and stop her. She relished the opportunity to take them down and make them suffer. Her claws found handholds easily on the decaying pipes that led to the water plant as she crawled along the ceiling like a spider. Her wings were folded tightly against her sides to ensure they wouldn't get caught on anything but there was plenty of room in the tunnel and she didn't feel constricted.

She found the door that led into the water plant easily enough. There was a padlock on the outside of the door but her claws made short work of it and then she eased it open a crack. She sniffed the air on the other side and listened intently but there was no sign of anyone so so she threw open the door and went inside.

At this late hour, there was only a skeleton crew and none of them were near her. She could hear and smell the water in pipes and conduits all around her but her goal was the main tanks two levels up. Confident that she could complete her mission without interference, she didn't even bother to close the door behind her or hurry at her task.

Waylon reached the open door ten minutes after the demon had gone through. He'd been running the whole way while she had taken her time. But her scent had been easy to follow even among the stench of the sewage. He squeezed his bulk through the door and closed it behind him before resuming his hunt.

Waylon knew it was unlikely he could sneak up on any of the bat-demons. Their senses were very acute and his bulk made it difficult to move silently. But he knew that he could take any one of them in a fight. His tough hide could stand up to their claws and teeth far better than normal human flesh. So he intended to track the creature and throw it off it's mission. If it had to take the time to deal with him, then it would have to postpone whatever its mission was here in the plant.

It wasn't hard to guess that it would involve sabotage of some kind. Either the demon was going to put something in the water or it was going to cut water service to the city. That would cause panic and problems as Gothamites realized they were stuck in their houses and apartments without running water. He couldn't let that happen.

He wouldn't have the advantage of surprise but Killer Croc did have other advantages. He knew the layout of the water treatment plant. He'd been here before as a police officer and he knew where the most likely targets were in the building. Also, if it came down to it, he could breathe underwater longer than any demon could. If the fight ended up with one of them in the water, he would win. There was no doubt of that in his his mind.

So he followed the intruder's trail but he could already tell it was leading towards the main tanks. He increased his speed and began closing the gap between the two mutated beings. He didn't have to worry about any of the human workers as Nigma had warned them about the intruder and told them to stay away and let Waylon handle it.

The bat-demon regarded the huge holding tanks with satisfaction. There were five of them linked by metal catwalks and accessible by curving stairs that wrapped around the giant bulk of the tanks. There had been no sign of any security or any impediment at all. She adjusted the bag strapped to her back and headed for the stairs leading to the catwalks. She had her foot on the first step when her sensitive hearing picked up the sounds of someone approaching.

At first she thought it was security finally arriving but what ever was heading towards her at a fast rate of speed was too large to be human. She knew the Commissioner had metahumans in his employ so she wasn't startled when the huge, reptilian creature burst into the room. Instead, she grinned in anticipation at the idea of a real fight.

She had to complete her mission first and it was amusing to make the creature think she was afraid of it so instead of meeting his charge, she turned and ran up the winding metal stairs. Her claws gave her a good grip and she wasn't afraid of falling. Killer Croc was following her up the stairs but his bulk was slowing him down and the stairs were creaking ominously under his weight.

Cassandra easily reached the top before Waylon was more than halfway up the stairs. She looked out over the massive tanks and snarled suddenly as she saw her mission wasn't going to be as easy as she'd thought. The tanks should have been open, allowing her to dump the chemicals in each of them for maximum exposure.

Instead, each was covered with a thick steel plate. When Waylon had called in to Nigma, the Security Chief had not only contacted the water treatment plant to warn them about the intruder but had told them to take all necessary security measures to protect the water supply. With the push of a button, the tanks had been sealed, preventing Cassandra from carrying out her duties.

This wasn't enough to stop her. There were always the pipes leading out into the city or she could take the time to find the controls that would open the tanks again. But before she could do any of that, she had to take out Killer Croc who was now almost at her position. She launched herself up into the air and landed perched on an upper level well out of reach. The bat-demon removed her pack containing the precious chemicals and left it on the catwalk. It wouldn't do to have it damaged in the fight.

Waylon crouched at the top of the stairs, watching her every move. The bat-demon would probably underestimate him the way everyone else did. They thought he was nothing but a stupid, vicious animal but his mind was human and he'd learned the value of patience and planning. Nevertheless, he let loose a deep growl of frustration at the sight of his enemy so close and yet out of hand.

Cassandra grinned, exposing needle-sharp fangs at the metahuman's frustration. She strolled along the catwalk, ignoring the way Waylon followed her by walking across the tops of the tanks. He wouldn't let her out of his sight but she had ways of vanishing. Clutched unseen in her hand was a small pellet that Wayne had created. It would provide the perfect distraction.

"You can't run, monster. If you turn yourself in now, I promise to go easy on you." Waylon knew it was useless to try and reason with the creature but he had to try something to end this stalemate. He couldn't reach her but she couldn't complete her mission until she dealt with him. Something had to give and he wanted her to make the first move.

She obliged by whirling and running towards him along the crosswalks until she was directly overhead. He tensed for an attack but instead of leaping at him, she threw something small and metallic at him. He took a step back and heard it clink on the cover of the water tank to his left. The small resulting explosion caused him to stumble backwards and the area was suddenly filled with smoke.

Waylon knew she'd try something like this and donned a specialized gas mask and a pair of infrared goggles before charging through the smoke. He found her on the far side of the room by the manual controls and charged towards her as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, she was quicker still and he'd lost a few precious seconds putting on the protective gear.

She threw the switches to remove the covers and he felt the metal move under his feet. If she thought that would stop him, she was mistaken. As he jumped to the next tank, he saw the open water ahead of him, tore off his protective gear and dived in without breaking a stride. It was easy enough for him to swim the length of the tank and reach the other side.

Cassandra had thought the mutated police officer would be slowed down by having to cross the water but she hadn't realized just how efficient his scaly form was in the water and he was coming towards her far faster than she'd thought possible. Snarling in annoyance, she launched herself back into the air and headed for her discarded bag.

She didn't even think about the fact that she would be passing over the tanks until the green-skinned form shot out of one and claws clipped the edge of her wing. Waylon had been able to swim with such speed that he had gained enough momentum to leap at the demon as it passed him. Cassandra had thought that flight made her superior but in the confined spaces of the room, she'd had to fly too close to the tanks and now she was paying for it.

The blow had only been a glancing one but it had done enough damage to throw her off balance and make her fall. Blood dripped from the wound as she struggled to right herself but the wing on that side wouldn't work quite right and before she could regain any kind of control, she hit the water of the tank and sank below the surface.

Killer Croc crouched at the edge and watched the demon struggle weakly to surface. They were nimble in the air and even on land but in the water their wings dragged them down. He was tempted to let her drown but he remembered Francine after her transformation. There had been defiance and fear there but she had been human again. She hadn't even smelled like a demon anymore.

There was no way for him to change from the monster he was but the woman beneath him still had a chance to regain her life. He dived in and grabbed the flailing creature in a bear hug, trying to pin her wings and limbs. But the bat-demon wasn't out of the count yet. Ignoring her own peril, she slashed across his chest and thigh with sharp claws. Waylon was hard to hurt but her claws were sharp enough to draw blood.

Waylon simply ignored the bleeding wounds and concentrated on holding her under until she couldn't hold her breath anymore and went limp in his grasp. Waylon surfaced and hauled the creature up onto the platform. He needed to secure the prisoner and send someone to retrieve her bag which was out of his reach on the upper catwalk. Confident in his victory, he turned towards the plant floor where he'd left his radio and gear.

Unfortunately for him, he was used to dealing with humans who couldn't hold their breath for very long. A creature that could fly, by neccesity, had a greater lung capacity. Waylon had only a second of warning as the recovered bat-demon leaped at his back. He twisted around to meet her attack and then was forced to stumble backwards as she slashed at him over and over again, causing deep wounds that bled freely.

He felt his back hit the metal railing that encircled the platform as he put his massive arms up to ward off her blows. She was too fast for him to hit directly as she ducked and weaved over his clumsy punches. Cassandra Cain was angry now. She had been playing with her persuer before but now her only thought was to kill him slowly and painfully. She slashed out with claws and fangs drawing blood where ever she could reach. Her claws slashed at his knee and his left leg buckled under him causing him to fall against the railing.

There was a creaking noise and then the railing collapsed and Killer Croc found himself falling. He managed to catch the edge of the platform with one clawed hand but he knew he couldn't hold on for long. The blood loss was making him dizzy and his grip was already loosening. The bat-demon crouched over him truimphantly baring her teeth in pleasure.

Waylon fumbled at his belt with his one free hand. As the demon prepared to slice down, he stabbed upwards with the needle concealed in his other hand. The movement made him lose his grip and he plunged to the floor of the plant but not before seeing the contorted look of pain and shock on Cassandra's face as the reversal drug began to course through her system. His last thought was satisfaction that he'd taken one of them out of the fight.

The bat-demon looked down at Waylon's crumpled body below and felt a wave of dizziness that almost made her fall as well. She stumbled back from the edge and slumped down on the cold metal platform. She didn't know what Waylon had injected her with but her body was already aching from her near-drowning. The adrenaline that had driven her attack was gone and she barely had the energy to move.

But she still had a mission to complete and the Master wouldn't be happy with her if she failed. She would just take a minute to catch her breath and then she had to get the pack back and finish her assignment. The idea that she'd taken out someone as powerful as the lizard-man made her happy but the pain in her body only seemed to be increasing. Something was wrong.

Cassandra dug her claws into the metal and began to pull herself forward. She was determined not to fail but her own body was betraying her. The catwalk where she'd left the bag with the chemicals was so far away and she could barely keep her eyes open. She tried to move again but her claws suddenly seemed weaker and she couldn't get a purchase on the surface.

When a back-up team sent by Chief Nigma arrived twenty minutes later, they found Waylon's body covered in deep slashes on the floor of the plant. His neck had broken on impact and there was nothing that could be done for him. On the platform he'd fallen from, they found an unconscious, naked, young woman with her hands bloody from where she'd tried to drag herself across the surface. The number of bat-demons had been reduced yet again and the chemicals hadn't been introduced into the water system but only at the loss of a valuable officer. Full night had fallen over the city.


	17. Part 17, Brainstorm

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Thinking in the midnight of my dread and need

The room like a nervous birdcage around my head

And far off the war breathing live hills of steel

Tidal waves tossing beneath imagination's small bird

Sitting here alone, I ask, who is a friend, who?"

"Thinking in the Midnight."

Oscar Williams

Jack sat stunned in the back of the van. Of all of his operatives, he'd never thought that Killer Croc would be the one to die at the hands of the bat-demons. The reptilian metahuman had always seemed so strong and capable. But the demons were cunning and Waylon Jones had learned that the hard way. He had been a good man but Jack couldn't let himself linger on any one defeat for too long.

The good news from the tragedy at the water plant was that another of Wayne's minions was out of the picture. Also, they'd found the chemicals that the young woman had been planning on adding to the water supply and the scientists back at headquarters were busy analyzing them. They would go a long way towards revealing some of Wayne's plan for the city.

Jack had a feeling it was going to be a long night and he really should try to take a quick nap but he was too jittery to sleep. They'd been up most of the preceding night going over every little detail of the plan and making sure there were no loose ends. He'd learned long ago how to get by on very little rest. Eddie, on the other hand, looked in danger of nodding off over his computer despite the three cups of coffee he'd already downed. Jack put his hand on the Chief's shoulder.

"Why don't you take a rest, Eddie? I can monitor the drones for a while. I need something to keep my mind busy."

"If you insist, but wake me if anything goes wrong." The fact that Eddie didn't argue only proved how tired he was since normally he hated not being aware of everything as soon as it happened. He went up to the back seat of the van where Pam was already asleep, drew a blanket over himself and was snoring softly in a matter of minutes.

Jack sat in front of the laptop, typing away as he monitored all of the various Nygma drones patrolling the city. Any anomalous reading or sighting would be sent out as an alert to the nearest patrol unit but so far the city was quiet. It was fully dark out now and there were still three bat-demons out there including Wayne. They might strike in five minutes or five hours but Jack was sure that Bruce wouldn't want to prolong this. He would act tonight and whatever he did would probably be swift and brutal.

"Where are you Wayne? What are you up to?" Jack murmured softly to himself as his slender fingers brought up image after image from every corner of the city.

At police headquarters…

Jervis could feel his headache increasing as he surveyed the bustling infirmary. They were nearly at capacity with all the captured and transformed demons. Eight adults and two children lay sleeping in the secure ward. All of them were rescued bat-demons except for Jonathan who was still handcuffed to the bed at his own insistence. Harley was in the isolation ward with two nurses.

It was unusual for there to be this many people in the infirmary. It had been set up in police headquarters because there were times when it was needed. Three years ago, one of the bat-demons had entered Gotham General through a fifth-floor window and killed two wounded police officers who had been responsible for shooting one of it's fellow demons.

Ever since then, they'd had their own medical staff here for wounded cops or any prisoners who were deemed at risk of attack. This was the most secure building in the city, a fortress guarded against just about any conceivable attack. Still, Tetch was grateful for the armed guards and the technicians who were keeping all of the security systems up and running.

He'd downed two aspirin with his quick dinner but it didn't seem to help. His thoughts kept going back to his last week in England. Tetch wasn't sure why he kept thinking about that time but it felt like there was something important there, something he needed to remember.

When he'd given his notice to come and work for Jack in Gotham, he'd been so excited for the unique opportunities offered by the bat-demon problem. He'd spent one week tying up his loose ends and directing his colleagues to fill in for him and carry on his projects.

Then he'd spent several days just touring the familiar streets of London and saying good-bye to friends before his departure. Every time he tried to think about the details of those few days, it all seemed hazy. He remembered dining at his favorite restaurant but not what he'd had. He remembered visiting his mother but not what was said. Something wasn't right.

The more he tried to think about it, the more the details seemed to slip away from him and the more his head hurt. Maybe he just needed to take a quick break. He stepped away from the computer and went to the bathroom down the hall. Splashing water on his face seemed to help until he looked up and found himself staring at his reflection in the mirror. His face looked unfamiliar and suddenly everything around him seemed unreal.

"Through the Looking Glass." He whispered and for a moment his reflection changed and there seemed to be a giant, black, bat-shaped shadow behind him. Jervis whirled but there was no one there. A sudden blinding pain spiked though his head. He grabbed at his forehead as the room spun around him.

Jervis had the sensation of falling down a dark, bottomless hole as synapses fired in his brain, forcing his thoughts into programmed patterns. His body seized and then he came back to awareness to find himself on the floor with no memory of how he'd gotten there. The chip had been activated and Wayne's instructions were being broadcast directly into his mind. He knew now what he had to do.

If anyone had been in the bathroom with him, they might have gotten him help and stopped the Bat-Demon's plan before it ever got started but there was no one around as Jervis walked calmly back out to his desk. Everyone was at their assigned post and too occupied to notice his odd behavior. His mind was strangely empty and his thoughts were focused on fulfilling his instructions.

There were two guns in his desk drawer. Jack insisted that everyone under his command, even the civilians, be proficient in firearms for self-defense if nothing else. Jervis had never liked using them but now he picked up the pistol without hesitation, loaded it, and then concealed it in the pocket of his lab coat. The other weapon was a stun gun used to subdue unruly patients. He put it in the other pocket and headed out.

As he walked through the infirmary, all of the patients were asleep and the nurses too busy tending to them to spare him a glance except the patient near the end of the room. Jonathan Crane was wide awake and sitting up as Dr. Tetch walked by. He expected his friend to greet him but Jervis acted like he didn't even see him. There was something odd about the stiff, unnatural way he was walking.

"Jervis? Are you okay?" Jonathan's soft question made Jervis glance his way but he didn't break his stride. The psychologist gasped at the empty gaze he'd glimpsed. Something was wrong. He tried to get up and the handcuff around his wrist rattled.

After Jonathan had been rescued from captivity, he'd been terrified of everyone and everything around him. It wasn't just the memories of what had been done to him and his inability to talk about it that had made him mistrust everyone. It had been the knowledge that someone in Jack's employ was working for the bat-demons and had to be watching him and reporting back on his words and behavior.

Every glance, every time someone seemed to be going out of their way to ignore him, every loud noise kicked his fear into overdrive. It had been a long recovery and he still had a ways to go but the paranoia had never left entirely. He was always alert to suspicious behavior. But what if he was wrong? Maybe Jervis was just tired and Jonathan getting hysterical would only embarrass him. The situation needed attention but he had to be careful about his actions.

"Nurse! I need to use the bathroom, please."

Jervis headed towards the central control room two floors down. The skeleton crew worked in shifts and he didn't encounter anyone on his way there. There were two men on duty in the control room with the door locked. He knocked politely and one of them got up to let him in. They had no reason to suspect anything from the mild-mannered Doctor Tetch.

The stun gun took out the first guard before he even knew what was happening. The second fumbled for his radio, trying to get to his feet but there was nowhere to go in the small space and a second shot sent him crashing to the floor as well.

With no expression, he sat down and typed out a series of commands. Security cameras went down, every door in the building unlocked, and alarms were shut off. Security guards looked around in confusion and several of them began shouting into their radios, demanding to know what was going on. Jervis typed in further instruction which sealed off certain sections and flooded them with knockout gas. Guards dropped to the floor, clearing away any obstacles to the approaching intruders.

Jonathan had been walking back from the bathroom with the nurse at his side when someone cleared his throat behind him and he turned to see Oswald Cobblepot standing there looking rather uncertain. He'd almost forgotten that the mayor was even in the building.

"Just the person I wanted to talk to, Dr. Crane. Do you have a moment?" Jonathan glanced at the nurse who shrugged and withdrew several feet to allow them to talk.

"I'm worried doctor. I'm worried that the Commissioner is in over his head. This is personal with him and I fear he'll bring the whole city down in his quest to stop the bat-demons. I wonder if you've noticed anything about his mental state lately that would give you concern."

Jonathan had never particularly liked Cobblepot. The man was too loud, too arrogant and too quick to dismiss the opinions of others. But there seemed to be something genuine in his voice right now. He looked almost scared. Maybe it was just the knowledge that he was stuck here as much as the rest of them since City Hall was no longer safe.

Or maybe he thought the city was plunging into chaos and he needed a scapegoat to blame after everything was done. If Jack survived, it would be easy enough to claim that he'd gone too far especially if there was a large loss of life in the conflict. Oswald had always advised caution in dealing with the demons and it was this that made Jonathan look at him with disgust.

"If anything, I'm surprised at Jack's restraint. He's being very methodical and strategic and using all of his resources to the best of their abilities. But I've been handcuffed to a bed for two days so perhaps you know more than me?"

"I'm simply concerned for the citizens of Gotham who are going to be caught in the middle. I…what is that?" Both men looked up startled as the vents down the hall began to hiss out gas softly. They stared at each other for a moment in mutual horror and then broke into a run leaving the woozy nurse behind them, protesting in vain.

Two blocks away, Timothy Drake smiled as he realized his master's minion had succeeded in opening the way for him. Bruce had far more important things to do so he had sent his two remaining minions to carry out his instructions. Helena Bertinelli checked to make sure the bag strapped to her back was secure and then followed the younger bat-demon as they began a careful approach to police headquarters.

Tetch had taken out the mechanical and electronic systems but the roof top guards were still active and they couldn't just go charging in. There were four men on the roof and they were obviously on high alert. They stood in a defensive formation around the door leading into the building. All four were heavily armed and wearing body armor.

On any other night, the two bat-demons would have amused themselves by taking out the guards despite their protective measures. Despite their training, it was often easy to get them to fire at swooping shadows and break formation. But their master had stressed that they needed to get in as fast as possible and before anyone knew they were there.

Their fellow demons had failed to poison the water supply with the combined chemicals for the fear gas but Wayne always had several back-up plans in motion. A city in chaos would have been fun but that could wait for another night. Now, they were going to hurt Jack in the worst possible way and take out his base of operations at the same time. Tim only wished he could see the look on the Commissioner's face when he saw the end results of tonight.

The two bat-demons ignored the roof and crawled down the side of the neighboring building until they reached the ground. Then they simply walked in the front door without any problems. The gas had been pumped out by now but it's effects would last for much longer than they needed.

There were several unconscious humans in their path but they simply stepped over them and continued towards their goal. The infirmary was two levels up and they had to take the stairs but despite their continued caution, they met no one except the unconscious staff. Under other circumstances, they would have easily slaughtered their helpless foes but today that would only slow them down.

Jervis met them at the door to the medical wing. Their master's puppet's eyes were blank and he simply waited for further instructions. He unlocked the infirmary for them and then stood there as they entered. Helena shoved him inside and closed the doors to the most secure area of the building.

Everyone inside was as unconscious as the rest. Their former comrades lay lined up in beds in their weak human forms. Only Aaron still looked like the creatures who approached his mother's bedside. Both of them would have been happy to kill all of their former companions but their master had other plans. He still wanted his heir, the boy who would always be a bat-demon and could never be changed like the rest.

Helena threw the boy's unconscious body over her shoulder and then set off for the door to begin the second phase of their instructions. Tim headed towards the isolation ward. This was the one area that hadn't been gassed. Bruce wanted his future prisoner to see what was coming for her. When Jervis opened the door, both nurses pulled guns and stood in front of their patients. Tim pushed Jervis in front of him as a shield. They wouldn't shoot their boss and their hesitation was all the time he needed.

The bat-demon threw the blond man at the two women, knocking them down and allowing him to reach them easily. He killed both of them quickly, slashing the throat of one and then breaking the neck of the other even as she struggled to bring the gun to bear. Jervis struggled to his feet, swaying slightly as Tim approached the patient who looked at him with wide, tear-filled eyes.

"Hello, Harleen. Bruce Wayne sends his regards."

Tim advanced on the helpless woman but a bullet tore through his left leg, making him fall well short of his goal. He turned around with a snarl only to find a squat, gas-masked figure standing in the doorway with a gun aimed at his head. There was nowhere to go in the stark room but Oswald Cobblepot was a known coward. Even armed, he looked scared as he faced the young bat-demon. His eyes were wide behind the mask and his long nose was pinched against the hastily donned, ill-fitting mask making breathing more difficult.

Jonathan and Ozzie had both managed to make it to the nearest emergency station and don gas masks when the gas had started to hiss out of the vents. But Ozzie had breathed enough in to feel a little dizzy and he knew he had to end this quickly. The two of them were the only ones left to oppose the bat-demons. He couldn't let them take Harleen. The creature moved slightly, just a step to the left and Ozzie moved his gun to keep track of him.

Tim snarled at him and saw the man flinch. Cobblepot may have found a tiny bit of spine left to shoot him in the first place but his courage was wavering fast in the presence of an actual demon who was facing him and barely impaired by his injured leg. All Tim had to do was make him back up out of the door or distract him enough to risk a charge and this farce would be over.

"Jervis." Jervis lurched forward towards Oswald and the mayor's gaze turned to him. That was all the distraction Tim needed. He knocked the gun out of his hand, slamming Ozzie against the wall repeatedly until he went limp. Then, unimpeded, he grabbed his prize who barely even struggled as he hefted her over his shoulder and made his way out of the building. Just before he left, he pulled the fire alarm and then was gone out the door.

Two floors below, Jonathan was carefully trailing the female demon. She definitely knew where she was going and it didn't seem to involve leaving the building so she had to have another purpose here. Any other time, she would have heard him following her but she was too distracted by the thought of what she was going to accomplish here. Besides that, she thought everyone was still asleep so she didn't bother to take note of her surroundings.

She went into the main boiler room in the basement and put Aaron down as she pulled off the pack that was strapped to her body. Carefully, she began removing the wrapped packages her master had given her and placing them at regular intervals around the room. Then she unwrapped each and typed in the commands she'd been given. Her task done, Helena scooped up the boy again and made her way out of the building, grinning to herself at the thought of what was going to happen very soon.

Jonathan had been forced to hide in a supply closet to avoid being seen but as soon as the female demon had gone past again, he slipped out and headed for the boiler room ahead. He knew he should try and stop her from leaving with Aaron but there had to be a reason why she had taken the time to detour down here instead of leaving and he knew it couldn't be good.

He saw them as soon as he entered the room. There were nine small devices placed in a rough circle around the huge boiler. A small green light blinked steadily on each. He approached the closest one and crouched down to study it, careful not to touch it. There was a small digital readout and he felt sick as he realized it displayed a number that was counting down from twenty.

Each of the devices was a bomb and they were set to go off in just under twenty minutes. There was no way he could get everyone out of the building in that time and he had no idea how to disarm them. Jonathan stared at the devices as he tried desperately to figure out what to do.

Jack was studying a map of the drone placement when the alarm went off in his pocket. He fumbled for the device that was hooked into the security system back at headquarters. His eyes widened as he looked down at the screen of the small phone in his hand. Something was very wrong. Eddie stirred as Jack scrambled past him to the driver.

"Get to headquarters, now!" He didn't know what was going on but he hoped it wasn't what he was thinking. Police headquarters was supposed to be the most secure building in the city. Hopefully, this was a false alarm but dread was settling in as he thought of everything that could have gone wrong. "Harley." He murmered softly as he clutched the phone.

It would take them fifteen minutes to reach the building but they were going to be the longest fifteen minutes of his life. Eddie and Pam were both awake now and joined him at the computer. They couldn't patch through to any of the cameras and no one was responding to their messages. The closest drone was two blocks away but they couldn't see anything amiss through it's feed.

Eddie's cell phone rang making them all start just a little. He pulled it from his pocket and answered it quickly.

"Hello?"

"Edward. Is Jack with you?"

"Jonathan? What the hell is going on?"

"We have a problem."


	18. Part 18, Gauntlet

"Death is a cloud

Immense, a clap of sound

Love is little and not loud

It nests within each cell

And it cannot be split.

It is a ray, a seed, a note, a word

A secret motion of our air and blood

It is not alien, it is near

Our very skin

A sheath to keep us pure of fear."

"The Shape of Death."

May Swenson

Jonathan crouched among the bombs trying to remain calm as he described everything that had happened as clearly as possible. Every instinct screamed at him to run but he knew that if he did everyone left in the building would die. He couldn't live with the knowledge that he'd abandoned them to death without at least trying something.

Jonathan had no friends growing up. His childhood had been miserable and empty of love. But there were people here who cared about him, people who he counted as his friends and he couldn't stand to lose any of them. Jervis, Eddie, Jack, poor Harley, even Ivy as distant as she usually was, were counting on him and he'd do whatever he could to protect them.

Edward was swearing on the phone as he absorbed all the information he'd been given. When he'd told them about Harley's abduction, he'd heard the snarl from Jack who was probably standing right over Eddie's shoulder listening in. Jonathan could picture Eddie pacing around the narrow space in the van, with one hand on his head as he tried to decide what to do. He had to make it quick because there were only fourteen minutes left.

Ten minutes away, Eddie would have looked exactly how Jonathan pictured him if he wasn't strapped into the back seat for safety. The driver had turned on the siren and was flying through the streets of Gotham at alarming speeds but they wouldn't get there in nearly enough time. The bombs would explode just a few minutes after their arrival and there was no way Eddie could disarm all of them quickly enough.

Jack sat next to him with his fingernails buried in his palms hard enough to draw blood. Every muscle in his body was rigid. He wanted to do something, take action against the kidnappers and the bombs but he couldn't do anything but wait for Eddie. Bombs were his area of expertise.

He had to ignore the fury that was rising in him at the thought of Harley in the hands of that madman again. Wayne wouldn't kill her. She was bait and he wouldn't do anything to her unless Jack was there to witness it personally. The bombs were the more pressing problem and they had to focus on that right now.

"If I was there in person, I could…" Eddie actually gave himself a light slap in disbelief. "What am I saying? I am there!" Jack and Ivy exchanged confused looks. Ivy was just as angry as Jack but she was handling it better. Her vines were wrapped around her in a protective embrace but the leaves were twitching in response to her anger. Eddie began tapping away at his laptop and ignoring them until Jack couldn't take it anymore.

"What are you doing, Chief?"

"From Jon's description, the bombs don't seem to be attached to anything and I'm guessing they're not pressure sensitive. My aerial bots can take them up into the sky where hopefully the explosion won't cause any damage. Jon, open all the doors to the outside and then move aside. The bots are going to be fast." The five bots he'd left behind to guard the building hadn't prevented the demons from getting in but just maybe they could stop the destruction of police headquarters.

"On it." Glad to have something to do, Jonathan ran to prop open all the doors leading to the outside. He used whatever he could find; trash barrels, chairs, and even a mop from the janitor's closets to keep the pathway open. Five aerial bots swarmed past him, nearly knocking him over as they passed. Each one of them came back with a bomb clutched in their gripping claws.

The bots would take them far enough up to detonate safely but with only five bots, it was going to take four trips to get them all. Jonathan decided to try and shorten their trip. He scooped up two of the bombs and deposited them in the street before returning for two more. Fear-driven adrenaline pushed him harder than it ever had before as he ran as fast as his long legs could carry him.

The air outside was cold and still. There was no one around to see him as he deposited two more bombs in the middle of the street. There were nine minutes left when he saw the explosion in the sky as the bombs were detonated. The bots had flung them as high as possible before firing on them and now they swooped back down and carried off five more from within the building.

Six more bombs remained in the basement. He brought up two more but judging from the amount of time it had taken the bots to bring the others up and then return, they wouldn't make it. Despite that, Jonathan kept going. He managed to get all four of the rest out to the street before another round of explosions signaled the demise of the airborne bombs.

There were three minutes left as the bots swarmed down and grabbed five more from the street but that still left the last five. The bots were quick but it wouldn't be enough. He watched as the counter went under two minutes and looked around wildly. There had to be something he could do. His heart was pounding so hard he was afraid he was going to pass out but there was still work to do.

The buildings around the police station were completely empty this time of night. Some of them belonged to the police force who used them as training areas. Some were actual businesses but directly across the street was one of the vacant buildings they'd used over the years to train SWAT teams to move through multi-level buildings.

The door was locked but he smashed one of the windows with a brick and than began throwing the bombs through, ignoring the way the jagged glass cut his hands. Edward was monitoring everything through the bots so hopefully, he would see what Jon was doing and stay away until the damage was done.

When all five were inside, Jonathan ran for the safety of the reinforced police headquarters. The lobby door had barely shut behind him when the explosion from across the street knocked him off his feet and tumbled him head-over-heels. The sound was tremendous and glass shattered around him as he wondered if he was about to die.

Then everything went still and he knew it was all over. Pain lanced through his body as he lay gasping on the floor. There were numerous shallow cuts across his back and legs and he could taste blood as he picked himself up but he was able to stagger to his feet and turn to look across the street. Dust billowed up obscuring the view but he could see enough to figure out what had happened.

The vacant building was a pile of rubble that spilled across the street and filled the area. Smoke rose from the remains and downed wires sparked in front of the building. It was a horrible mess that would take days to clear but Jonthan was alive and his friends were alive. The full impact of what he'd done hit him and he fell again. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, all he could do was lie there and shake as the panic attack set in.

Jack and the others had been delayed as Eddie had seen what was going to happen and directed the van to come up behind the building so they wouldn't get caught in the blast. They all heard and felt the explosion but the sight of police headquarters still standing told them that Jonathan and the bots had succeeded.

Jack, Ivy, and Eddie rushed into the lobby. They found Jonathan curled into the fetal position at the same time that the guards from the roof contacted them. Jack directed two of them to stay put and ordered the other two to go and find the control room and check on the guards there. His emotions urged him to go after Harley but he had no idea where she had been taken and he needed to assess the situation here first.

"Jonathan?" He crouched down to check on the shivering man who gave no sign that he'd heard Jack. "Jonathan, you did good. I'm proud of you. Ivy's going to stay with you while we go check on the others but I'll be back shortly."

Jon still didn't respond but his injuries looked non-threatening so Jack instructed Ivy to stand guard as they went up to the medical wards where the majority of people could be found. Eddie followed right on Jack's heels as they went up the stairs. Along the way, they found a few unconscious bodies but after checking the first couple and realizing they were alive, Jack ignored them. They were fine and would wake up on their own.

The door to the infirmary looked untouched but as they walked in, they spotted signs of a struggle. Medical and support staff were scattered around and the prisoners were all in their beds but it was the slumped, squat figure in the protective suit that caught their eye. The wall was dented above his head where the bat-demon had slammed him repeatedly and the plastic mask over his face was shattered.

Eddie helped him take the helmet off but even as the security chief searched for a pulse, Jack knew it was too late. From the looks of it, the beating had snapped Oswald's thick neck. Eddie confirmed it by shaking his head and looking grim. Jack had always thought Cobblepot was a coward who only cared about himself but he must have found some shred of bravery that made him try and stand up to the bat-demons.

Jack left Eddie with the mayor's body as he walked into the room where Harley had been. The bodies of the two nurses lay on the floor but he ignored them. Like Ozzie, there was nothing more he could do for them now except track down their killer. He was looking for some clue, some sort of message left by the kidnappers but there was nothing there at first glance.

Movement out of the corner of his eye made him whirl around, his hand on his revolver, only to see Jervis Tetch standing there. Blood trickled down the left side of his face from a shallow cut on his temple where he'd been thrown across the room and his eyes were perfectly blank. Jack frowned and walked up to him. Jonathan told them that Jervis had been controlled by the demons but none of them knew how it had been done. Was he still under their control or was he merely too stunned to react to Jack's presence?

"Jervis? Dr. Tetch? Can you hear me?" Those wide blue eyes snapped to his face but his expression was still blank. Jack stopped a few feet away. He had no idea if Jervis had been programmed to try and kill him as Jonathan had so it was best not to get too close.

"Jack?" The Englishman's voice was slurred and confused. "Is that you, Jack? I have a message for you, Jack."

"I'm listening." Jack tensed as Tetch straightened himself up and began to recite.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat

How I wonder what you're at

Up above the world you fly

Like a tea tray in the sky."

There was only baffled silence as Jervis finished. Was that some sort of riddle? It sounded like nonsense to Jack who had no idea what it might mean. If he took it literally, then Wayne was somewhere up high but what if it was a false lead meant to throw him off-track? And "up above the world" could mean anything from a tall building to an airplane. He needed more information.

"Is that it, Jervis? Is there anything more?"

"We're all mad here. You're mad, I'm mad. Won't you join the dance?" Still with the same blank look, Jervis produced a pistol from his coat pocket. Before Jack could even react, Jervis put the barrel to his temple. Just before he could squeeze the trigger, he was tackled from behind and slammed to the ground. Nigma tried to wrestle the squirming scientist to the ground but it wasn't until Jack jumped in to help that they were able to subdue the smaller man.

Jervis was sobbing softly, as Eddie handcuffed him and confiscated the gun. His eyes were still blank and wide but all the fight seemed to have gone out of him. They brought Jervis back out into the main lab and cuffed him to the bed that Jonathan had occupied until recently. Jack administered a sedative and checked him carefully to assess his injuries while he sent Eddie out to check on the security systems. Aside from the apparent concussion and various cuts and bruises, the doctor seemed to be okay but head injuries were always tricky.

Jack still had no idea what had been done to Jervis or how to fix it and he was no closer to finding Wayne or his two minions. The thought of Harley in that monster's hands again made his blood boil but he knew she was alive for now. Commissioner Napier looked around the room, trying to decide what to do next when he realized his count of the prisoners was off by one.

His attention had been on other things when he'd first entered the infirmary but looking the scene over more carefully, he realized that the smallest bat-demon was nowhere to be seen. Francine had said that Wayne considered the boy to be his true heir because he couldn't be converted to human again, having never been one. It seemed that Wayne had wanted Aaron back for a reason. He just needed to figure out what that meant.

Bruce Wayne thrived on chaos and anarchy. He didn't care about anyone or anything other than himself. But knowing everything he did now, Jack could see a pattern forming. At his deepest level, he was still a hurt little boy lashing out at everything around him and while he was certainly highly intelligent, his need for attention motivated his every move. The Bat-Demon might think he was some sort of evolved being but the Commissioner knew better.

Jack had two options. He could wait for Wayne to send him some taunting message which would inevitably lead them into some sort of final confrontation with the fate of the city at stake. Or Jack could beat him at his own game, figure out what was going to happen before it did and stop the Bat-Demon once and for all.

His red-lined lips curled into a sardonic grin. Wayne didn't know who he was dealing with. Everyone thought he was the tightly controlled, visibly disfigured head of the police force. But Jack was more than that. He planned for every contingency, every scenario, and kept it all in his head. Even with his spies present, Wayne couldn't possibly know everything Jack was capable of because no one knew what was really on his mind.

A few of the staff were beginning to stir but he paid them no mind as he made his way to the control room. Eddie was busy checking on all the systems and trying to determine what had been done to them. The guards from the roof had removed their unconscious colleagues and brought them to the infirmary. They were alone which was exactly what Jack wanted. He needed privacy for this little conversation. The Security Chief glanced up briefly as Jack walked in and then did a double take.

"Boss, what's up?" Eddie actually looked uneasy at the expression on Jack's face. There were plenty of people over the years who had expected Jack to just snap one day and kill everyone around him. He was too tightly wound and coldly violent when he needed to be. The loss of Harley might be just the push he needed to send him over the edge. Jack ignored Eddie's question.

"How are the systems?"

"Jervis didn't wreck any of the equipment. He just shut everything down so once I reboot and change the passwords, it should be fine."

"That's good. Once you get the security systems back up, we're going after Harley. Tonight, before the bastard knows what we're up to."

"That's great but how are we going to find them? We don't know where they went."

"They took Aaron Langstrom. I had Jervis implant a tracker in each of the prisoners without telling anyone else. A long time ago, I personally implanted a tracking device in Harleen's body. Nobody knows about it. I'm going to activate both and then you and Ivy are coming with me. This ends tonight."


End file.
